Truman Medal for Economic Policy

Truman Forum, Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch

Join us in person or online for the Truman Medal for Economic Policy Award Ceremony honoring Sheila Bair, former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

A nationally recognized leader in financial regulation and public service, Bair has held multiple senior leadership positions in government, academia and the private sector.

She is renowned for protecting Main Street during the 2008 financial crisis. As Chair of the FDIC from 2006 to 2011, she championed accountability for “too big to fail” institutions and earned the JFK Library’s Profiles in Courage Award. She was twice named by Forbes as the second most powerful woman in the world. Time Magazine called her the “little guy’s protector in chief.”

Bair later served as the first female President of Washington College and became the first female Chair of Fannie Mae. She has served on several corporate and advisory boards, while continuing her work on public policy issues as founding chair of the Systemic Risk Council and a founding board member of the Volcker Alliance. She is also a trustee of Economists for Peace and Security.

A respected voice on financial policy issues, Sheila is a frequent op-ed contributor for the Financial Times and other publications. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Bull by the Horns, her memoir of the financial crisis, and its companion for teens, Bullies of Wall Street.