She’s In Charge: African-American Women CEOs In Corporate America

You may have read about Ursula M. Burns in the past. She became the first black woman to head a Fortune 500 company—and still is the only one to achieve this professional height. Burns is chairman and chief executive officer of Xerox, which has annual sales approaching $23 billion.  And to think she started her career in 1980 when she joined Xerox as a mechanical engineering summer intern. The internship turned into a full-time job and Burns, later assumed roles in product development and planning. From 1992 through 2000, she led several business teams just as the company has expanding its offerings.

By 2000, Burns was named senior vice president of Corporate Strategic Services. She helped restructure Xerox during its turnaround and through her work and leadership the company emerged as a leader in color technology and document services. In April 2007, Burns was named president and elected a member of the company’s Board of Directors. Two years later she was named CEO. One of her first moves in this position was the largest acquisition in Xerox history, the $6.4 billion purchase of Affiliated Computer Services.  On May 20, 2010, Burns became chairman.

She has degrees from Polytechnic Institute of NYU and Columbia University.  She is also a board director of the American Express Corporation and Exxon Mobil Corporation. In March 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama appointed Burns vice chair of the President’s Export Council.

And Burns makes time to give back working with nonprofits like FIRST – (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), National Academy Foundation, MIT, and the U.S. Olympic Committee. She is also a founding board director of Change the Equation, which focuses on improving the U.S.’s education system in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).