Barra, Mary Teresa (1961-…), is an American automobile executive. As chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the General Motors Company (GM), Barra is the first woman to lead a global automaker. She became CEO in 2014 and two years later was named chairman of the board of directors of General Motors, the largest automaker in the United States.
Barra was born Mary Teresa Makela on Dec. 24, 1961. She grew up in the Detroit suburb of Waterford, Michigan. Her father worked at a nearby GM plant. In 1985, she married Anthony Barra, whom she met at the General Motors Institute, the company’s technical college (now called Kettering University). That same year, Mary Barra graduated from the institute with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. In 1988, GM awarded her a fellowship to Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. She received a Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford in 1990.
Barra began her career at GM in 1980, while still a student at the General Motors Institute. She worked her way up through the company in a number of positions that included floor engineer, assembly plant manager, and head of corporate human resources.
In 2011, Barra became senior vice president of global product development. She was responsible for the design, engineering, program management, and quality of GM vehicles worldwide. In January 2014, Barra was appointed CEO of GM, becoming the highest-ranking woman in the automobile industry. In January 2016, GM’s board of directors unanimously voted to also name Barra its new chairman.
Shortly after Barra assumed her position as CEO, she faced a crisis regarding the automaker’s handling of faulty ignition switches in a number of small GM car models. The switch problem was linked to the deaths of at least 124 people. A scandal erupted when it was revealed that the automaker knew about the switch problem for more than 10 years before issuing a recall. Barra authorized the recall of 2.6 million GM vehicles worldwide and launched an internal investigation. She also appeared before U.S. Congressional panels investigating GM’s handling of the issue. GM later agreed to pay $35 million in civil penalties for its delayed response and $900 million to settle a federal criminal investigation into the ignition scandal. In addition, GM paid nearly $600 million to settle civil lawsuits for victims. GM also paid millions of dollars more to repair defective vehicles, as well as other charges. Although no GM executives or employees were charged in the scandal, Barra apologized to the victims and took responsibility for the automaker’s actions.
