An Evening with Sheila Bair

New York Times bestselling author, and former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Sheila Bair will sit for a moderated conversation with Dole Institute director Audrey Coleman. Bair has authored numerous children’s books on financial basics, including her most recent book, How Not to Lose a Million Dollars. She’s also an alum of Senator Bob Dole’s office, working as counsel to Dole in the 1980s. A KU alumna, Bair received one of the University of Kansas’s inaugural honorary degrees for her contributions to financial policy.

This program is presented in partnership with KU Alumni

About Sheila Bair

Sheila Bair has had a long and distinguished career in government, academia, and finance. Twice named by Forbes Magazine as the second most powerful woman in the world, she is perhaps best known as Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) from 2006 to 2011, when she steered the agency through the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. For her efforts to protect bank depositors and homeowners during the crisis, she received the Kennedy Library’s Profiles In Courage Award, and was named the “little guy’s protector in chief” by Time Magazine.

Prior to chairing the FDIC, Ms. Bair held several influential positions. She served as Professor of Financial Regulatory Policy at the University of Massachusetts Isenberg School of Management (2002 to 2006);  Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury (2001 to 2002); SVP for Government Relations of the New York Stock Exchange (1995 to 2000), Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (1991 to 1995); NYSE Legislative Counsel (1988 to 2000) and Counsel to Kansas Republican Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (1981 to 1988).

Subsequent to the FDIC, she served as a senior advisor to the Pew Charitable Trust (2011-2015) and and as the first woman president of Washington College (2015 to 2017). She also served on a number of corporate boards including Fannie Mae where she became the first woman chair (2019-2022); Bunge, where she served as Deputy Chair and Corporate Governance and Nominations Committee Chair (2019-2025), The Lion Electric Company, where she chaired the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (2019-2025); Thomson Reuters, where she chaired the Risk Committee (2014-2020); Santander (2014 to 2015); Host Hotels & Resorts (2012-2021); and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (2015-2018).

Ms. Bair currently serves as an advisor to several financial organizations, including Santander’s International Advisory Board, Ripple’s Stablecoin Advisory Board, Jiko’s Advisory Board, and Wealthfront’s Banking Advisory Board. She continues her work on public policy issues as chair emeritus of the Systemic Risk Council, which advocates for financial stability; founding director of the Volcker Alliance, which advances excellence in public service; and Senior Advisor to the Center for Financial Stability which promotes responsible monetary policy. She is also a longtime member of the prestigious International Advisory Council of China’s National Financial Regulatory Authority.

Ms. Bair is a frequent commentator on financial regulation and the economy and a regular contributor to the Financial Times. She is an accomplished author with her NY Times Best Seller, Bull by the Horns, her memoir of the financial crisis and the accompanying book for teens, Bullies of Wall Street; her eight-book Money Tales series for children; and newest book, How Not to Lose a Million Dollars.