Gail J. McGovern

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Gail J. McGovern (born 1952) was named President and CEO of the American Red Cross on April 8, 2008. McGovern held top management positions at AT&T Corporation and Fidelity Investments.

[edit] Early life

Born in 1952, McGovern received a Bachelor of Arts degree in quantitative sciences from Johns Hopkins University in 1974. She received an MBA from Columbia University in 1987.

[edit] Career

McGovern was an adjunct faculty of the Harvard Business School. Prior to joining Harvard University, Gail was president of Fidelity Personal Investments, a unit of Fidelity Investments, serving 4 million customers with $500 billion in assets. In this role she had overall responsibility for Fidelity's retail mutual fund and brokerage businesses and was a member of Fidelity's Operating Committee.

She joined Fidelity in September 1998 as president of Distribution and Services. Previously, she was Executive Vice President for the Consumer Markets Division at AT&T, responsible for AT&T's $26 billion residential long distance service and largest business unit. She began her career at AT&T as a computer programmer and moved up through sales, marketing and general management assignments, including chief strategist of AT&T's Communications Services Group and Executive Vice President of the $25 billion Business Markets Division.

She was recognized by Fortune magazine in 2000 and 2001 as one of the top 50 most powerful women in corporate America.