Talk:Sheila Bair

New President of Washington College

Shiela Bair is the new president of Washington College, according to an all campus email quoted below.

Dear Washington College Community:

I am happy to share with you the successful conclusion of our presidential search process.

The 28th President of Washington College will be Sheila C. Bair, the highly regarded former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC. We are all thrilled to welcome a leader of her character, intellect and prominence, and we know that she will do great things here in Chestertown and in the greater sphere of higher education.

I extend heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to the members of the Presidential Search Committee, led by chair Richard Creighton ’73, on a job well done.

President-elect Bair is traveling overseas for the next week but we look forward to welcoming her personally on campus as soon as possible.

Below is the news release being sent to media later this morning.

Yours truly, Jack S. "Jay" Griswold

Interim President

Early-access Press Release

Former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair Named

28th President of Washington College

The Kansas native will be the first female head of the 233-year-old liberal

arts college. Twice named the second most powerful woman in the world, Bair brings experience in government, finance and academia.

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Sheila C. Bair, the former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and a renowned advocate for financial reform, has been named the 28th president of Washington College, the historic liberal arts college on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

“I am incredibly pleased to be joining Washington College, a school the father of our country helped found over two centuries ago. This is a pivotal moment in its rich history,” said Bair. “As some see challenges in liberal arts education, Washington College sees nothing but opportunities. Through multi-disciplinary programs and experiential learning, Washington College gives its students the knowledge and practical skills to succeed as model, global citizens.

“If the financial crisis taught us anything, it is that we need decision-makers in both the public and private sectors who understand the social, ethical, and economic consequences of their actions – who can appreciate the historical and cultural context of the global environment in which we live, and who will be committed to the health and prosperity of not only their generation, but of generations to come. That is the kind of education that Washington College has been providing to generations of students. I am also pleased to be joining the Chestertown community and look forward to building even stronger ties between the college and local residents. Given its location on the Chester River near the Chesapeake Bay, Washington College is well-positioned to expand its well-regarded environmental research while contributing to the quality of life in Kent County.”

In announcing the appointment, H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., chair-elect of the Washington College Board of Visitors and Governors, noted that Bair will officially take the reins on August 1, 2015. She will be the first female president of the College, founded in 1782 with the patronage of then-General George Washington as the first college chartered in the new nation. Washington College ranks among the top selective liberal arts institutions in the country. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 12 to 1, it emphasizes the life-changing power of small classes and close connections between professors and their students.

“Sheila Bair has proven herself on the world stage as a clear-eyed strategic thinker who is willing to challenge the status quo to improve institutions and improve lives,” said Culp, a 1985 graduate of Washington College who recently retired as president and CEO of Danaher Corporation. “She understands our history, our mission, our values, and our potential. She also appreciates this beautiful Chesapeake Bay region and understands the importance of Chestertown and the College collaborating in ways that benefit our students and the community.”

Appointed to lead the FDIC by President George W. Bush in 2006, Bair led the Commission skillfully during one of our nation’s most challenging periods. She was one of the first officials to warn about the damage the growing subprime mortgage crisis would pose to millions of homeowners and the economy at large. Consumer advocates praised her relentless efforts to represent the interests of homeowners, bank customers and taxpayers. She helped shape and implement the Dodd-Frank Act, which gave the FDIC expanded power to “wind down” rather than bail out a failing bank, and created the Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion in an effort to bring banking services to underserved populations.

As head of the FDIC, Bair was recognized for sound fiscal management and for raising employee morale. Under her leadership the agency rose from last to first ranking in “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” from the Partnership for Public Service. In 2011, she was named by the Washington Post and Harvard University as one of America’s seven top leaders.

Her tenacity, independence and leadership earned her the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, the Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award, and the Better Business Bureau’s Presidents’ Award. Forbes twice named her the second most powerful woman in the world, behind Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Bair chronicled her five years at the FDIC in Bull by the Horns: Fighting to Save Main Street from Wall Street and Wall Street from Itself, a New York Times bestseller published in September 2012. A prolific writer, she is a regular contributor to Fortune and has written three books for children that offer lessons in financial literacy.

Since stepping down from the FDIC at the end of her term in 2011, Bair has served as a senior advisor to the Pew Charitable Trusts and chaired the Systemic Risk Council, a public-interest group of prominent former government officials and financial experts who monitor the implementation of financial reforms. Bair also serves on the boards of the nonprofit Volcker Alliance, which was formed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to promote more effective government.

A native of the small town of Independence, Kansas, where her father was a surgeon and her mother a nurse, Bair earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at the University of Kansas in 1974 and a law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1978. She began her career in public service as an aide to Kansas senator Bob Dole and later served as a commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a senior vice president for government relations at the New York Stock Exchange, and Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. For four years prior to joining the FDIC, she was the Dean’s Professor of Financial Regulatory Policy for the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Bair is married to Scott P. Cooper, Vice President of Government Relations at the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and the couple has two children. Son Preston graduates this month from Swarthmore College, and daughter Colleen is completing her first year of high school.

Rebecca Rimel, president and CEO of the Pew Charitable Trusts and a former board member of Washington College, says that the appointment is a perfect fit. “Sheila’s energy, intellect and commitment to public service have benefited the American people throughout her career, and I am delighted that she will serve as the next president of Washington College,” said Rimel. “Her tireless efforts to strengthen the U.S. financial system, speak truth to power, and serve the public interest make her the perfect leader for this great institution.”

Chair of the College’s Board of Visitors and Governors Edward P. Nordberg, Jr. ’82, whose term concludes July 1, praised the members of the presidential search committee and its chair, Richard Creighton ’73, for their work in reviewing some 350 potential candidates before recommending Bair unanimously to the board. “The result of their commitment and countless hours of research and interviews speaks for itself,” Nordberg said. “Our pool of finalists overflowed with remarkable, accomplished men and women from a variety of fields, and in Sheila Bair they found the perfect combination of wisdom, leadership skills and sensibility. She is a true example of four words we celebrate in our mission statement: ‘citizen leader’ and ‘moral courage.’ I could not be happier for my alma mater.”

Nordberg also thanked Interim President Jay Griswold for the stellar leadership he has provided since last summer, when former president Mitchell B. Reiss stepped down to lead the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Griswold, a former long-time board chair, will remain at the helm until Bair’s arrival and will help with the transition.

About Washington College Founded in 1782 by the Rev. William Smith, Washington College is the tenth oldest college in the nation. It enrolls approximately 1,400 undergraduates from more than 30 U.S. states and 30 other nations. The College is located in the Colonial riverfront town of Chestertown, named by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of America’s most distinctive historic communities and located approximately 90 minutes from Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia. Learn more at www.washcoll.edu.

Not much written in article about this appointment. I realize it's new, but there's not even a citation for it. Here's some info

https://www.washcoll.edu/offices/president/inauguration/

Ileanadu (talk) 05:14, 9 October 2015 (UTC)

Proposed merger

Sheila Blair was just created as an article on Sheila C. Bair, but with a surname typo. I've proposed merging it into this article. --Rosiestep (talk) 16:04, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

IndyMac Bank Failure

IndyMac Bank failed on July 11, 2008 costing the FDIC's insurance fund an expected $10.7 billion. In an August 2009 OIG report, the FDIC is shown to be aware of risks at IndyMac but not doing anything about them. The report doesn't mention Sheila Bair by name, but who takes responsibility at the FDIC for this colossal failure? The article as it stands praises Sheila Bair for the work she's done since the start of the financial crisis, but what about the responsibility she and her agency bear in contributing to this crisis by not reigning in loose lending at banks like IndyMac? Louis Ha Ha (talk) 17:11, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

It would be original research and a coatrack to assign the blame to Bair. Wikipedia's job is to reiterate what has been reported in reliable sources, not to develop novel interpretations. Someguy1221 (talk) 18:17, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

Regulating lending practices at banks I do not believe fell under the purview of the FDIC. I think these lending practices might have fallen under the Office of Thrift Supervision, etc. The good thing about IndyMac was that the FDIC set up a special program to wind down the people's mortgages that were underwater or in default in a humane way. The FDIC should be commended for the work they did on behalf of the borrowers who were screwed as part of the shady lending practices. Oh yeah, and shame on our treasury for not doing more in the form of consumer protection 68.2.137.33 (talk) 06:18, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Problem Reaction Solution Paradigm

If the Washington Mutual crisis had not been created by Sheila Bair, in September of 2008, congress would not have passed the $700 billion rescue fund, called TARP It was a classic Problem Reaction Solution Paradigm 1) The government creates or exploits a problem blaming it on others 2) The people react by asking the government for help willing to give up their rights 3) The government offers the solution that was planned long before the crisis After TARP the government seized new powers over the economy. It dramatically expanded the regulatory powers of the Federal Reserve and injected a trillion dollars of inflationary credit into the banking system. It partially nationalized the biggest banks. It appropriated $700bn with which to intervene in the economy. It made General Motors and Chrysler wards of the federal government. It wrote a bail-out bill giving the secretary of the treasury extraordinary powers that could not be reviewed by courts or other government agencies.” Was this a conspiracy put in motion by the elites? I don’t know, but a lot of fingers sure point in that direction. “The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group,” Franklin D. Roosevelt quote —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.247.235.78 (talk) 18:29, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

You are aware aren't you that all private power, so long as its not criminal, but no matter how small, should be more powerful than the "democratic state" don't you? Roosevelt was showing his communist credentials once again. The bailouts were a result of an unholy alliance between big banks and big government. Without government help, they would have failed, and the economic recovery would have been quick. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.10.114.177 (talk) 18:17, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

External links modified

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External links modified

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• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20101123193810/http://fdic.gov/about/learn/board/board.html to http://www.fdic.gov/about/learn/board/board.html
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Edit request - Remove ICBC from Lead Section

Per instructions provided by the Wikipedia Volunteer Response Team, I am requesting an edit rather than editing directly as I have a stated conflict of interest for this page.

My request is to remove Bair's position as a non-executive director for the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) from the lead section, as it gives unnecessary focus to this position. While her former role with the bank is factual, it is only one of several past and present board memberships she has held. She is currently on the boards of Host Hotels, Bunge Ltd and Fannie Mae; and previously was on the boards of ICBC, Thomson Reuter’s, and Santander.

Additionally, the page implies that Ms. Bair left Washington College to join the ICBC board and that she still serves on the ICBC board. This is false. Ms. Bair’s joining the ICBC board and leaving Washington College have no relation. She left Washington College for family reasons, as she stated at the time, and she left ICBC when her 3-year term expired this past spring.

Baltimore Sun article stating Ms. Bair's reason for leaving Washington College: "The mother of two said she is leaving to spend more time with her family."

The American Prospect article stating Ms. Bair's term ended in March 2020: "She joined ICBC’s board in 2017. (UPDATE: Bair's term on the ICBC board ended last month.)"

Thank you in advance. Please let me know if there's anything further I can do to help.

Afternoonmaroon (talk) 04:26, 11 September 2020 (UTC)

I edited the lead section to focus more on what is significant about the subject. I added the board memberships and role as college president to the career section.DesertDana (talk) 05:29, 24 September 2020 (UTC)