by Liz O’Donnell (Boston)
On Thursday, May 21st, Xerox Corporation announced Ursula Burns, the current president of the company, will take over as CEO effective July 1 replacing current chief Anne Mulcahy. Mulcahy, who is retiring, will remain as chairman of the board. While Burns’ appointment may be business as usual inside Xerox, it is much bigger news outside of the technology company. This marks the first woman-to-woman CEO transition and Burns will be the first black woman CEO in the Fortune 500.
Inside Xerox, employees recognize Burns as a key member of the company’s leadership team. She has been with the organization for just under thirty years, starting as a mechanical engineering summer intern. During her tenure she has worked in a variety of roles from product development to planning. She led several business teams including the office color and fax business and office network printing business. In 2000, she was named senior vice president, Corporate Strategic Services, and in April 2007, she was named president. Her areas of concern include IT, corporate strategy, human resources, corporate marketing and global accounts.
Xerox employees might also be un-phased by the company passing the CEO torch from one woman to another woman. After all, Xerox is often recognized for its diversity. This year the Human Rights Campaign recognized the document management company as one of its 2009 Best Places to Work, based on “fair-minded and equal” workplace policies. Xerox was also ranked number 35 on The 2009 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® list and number one on The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Supplier Diversity. And, Xerox employees a full-time, executive diversity officer in Philip Harlow.
But outside of Xerox, Burns’ appointment is hardly status quo. It is historic. Currently, there are only four black CEOs at Fortune 500 companies. Burns will become number five, but again, she will be the first woman in that group. As far as women CEOS, currently, there are just 14 female CEOs in the Fortune 500. With the loss of Mulcahy and her replacement by Burns, that small percentage will remain the same. While the number of women at the helm is still very small, successions like the one from Mulcahy to Burns, two women who worked well together and supported each other, and firsts like Carol Bartz moving from one CEO position (Autodesk) to another (Yahoo) mark the progress women in business are making. Read more