General Motors appoints first female CEO

General Motors has announced that Mary Barra, 51, a career-long GM manager, as its new global CEO, the first time that a woman has taken that position.  Barra started working for the company in 1980 as a General Motors Instutute co-op student at the Pontiac Motor Division. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering. GM also sent her to Stanford for her MBA. Before her appointment to the CEO post, she was the senior vice president for global product development, responsible for the design, engineering, program management and quality of GM vehicles worldwide. She was also the head of GM’s global purchasing and supply chain.

“With an amazing portfolio of cars and trucks and the strongest financial performance in our recent history, this is an exciting time at today’s GM,” said Barra. “I’m honored to lead the best team in the business and to keep our momentum at full speed.”

She succeeds Dan Akerson, who guided the company after the government bailout. Akerson, 65, opted to retire earlier  after his wife was recently diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer. GM says that Akerson “guided today’s GM to record profits and dramatic improvement in vehicle quality while closing the chapter on government ownership.”