Angela F. Braly will
become the 12th current woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company when she takes the
helm at WellPoint.
Braly will become the new
president and CEO of Indianapolis-based WellPoint, the nation's largest health
insurer, effective June 1. WellPoint is No. 47 on The 2006 DiversityInc Top 50
Companies for Diversity® list. WellPoint is No. 30 on the 2006
Fortune 500 list.
Braly will replace outgoing
Chairman, President and CEO Larry C.
Glasscock, who is retiring from WellPoint's day-to-day operations to
attend to family needs. Glasscock will continue to serve as the chairman of
WellPoint's board of directors..
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"Angela has the right combination
of intellect, health-policy knowledge, strategic vision, business experience and
execution ability, and she is well-suited to lead WellPoint's future success,"
said Glasscock in a statement. "She has partnered with me on every major
strategic initiative ... our board of directors enthusiastically approved
Angela's selection as a strong endorsement of our company's strategy,
performance, culture and leadership team."
Since 2005, Braly has served as a
WellPoint executive vice president, with operational responsibility for the
nation's largest Medicare-claims processing business, the federal employees'
health-benefits business, public-policy development, government relations, legal
affairs, marketing and social-responsibility initiatives.
Prior to her current position,
Braly served as CEO and president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri,
formerly RightChoice.
Representation of women among
Fortune 500 CEOs has grown slowly but steadily throughout the last decade. The
Fortune 500 counted three female CEOs in 2000, six in 2002 and nine in 2005.
Below is a list of current female CEOs and their
companies.
·
Indra
Nooyi, PepsiCo (No. 18 on the 2006 DiversityInc Top 50)
·
Anne
Mulcahy, Xerox, one of DiversityInc's 25 Noteworthy
Companies
·
Patricia
A. Woertz, Archer Daniels
·
Brenda
Barnes, Sara Lee
·
Mary
Sammons, Rite Aid
·
Patricia Russo, Lucent
Technologies
·
Susan
Ivey, Reynolds American
·
Andrea
Jung,
·
Marion
O. Sandler, Golden West Financial
·
Paula
Rosput Reynolds, Safeco
·
Margaret Whitman, eBay