Barbara Hackman Franklin (born March 19, 1940) is an American
government official
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their su ...
,
corporate director
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal ...
, and
business executive
A business executive is a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.
Executives run companies or government agencies. They create plans to help their organizations ...
. She served as the 29th
U.S. Secretary of Commerce
The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...
from 1992–1993 to President
George H. W. Bush, during which she led a presidential mission to China.
Prior to her cabinet position, Franklin served in the presidential administrations of
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
,
Gerald Ford,
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
, and
Ronald Reagan. She was one of the original commissioners and first vice chair of the
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (USCPSC, CPSC, or commission) is an independent agency of the United States government. The CPSC seeks to promote the safety of consumer products by addressing “unreasonable risks” of inj ...
. In 2006, she received the
Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service
Woodrow Wilson Awards are given out in multiple countries each year by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution to individuals in both the public sphere and business who have shown an outstanding commitm ...
.
Franklin has served on the board of directors of 18 companies, including
Dow Chemical,
Aetna Inc.
Aetna Inc. () is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans ...
,
Westinghouse, and
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, a ...
. ''Directorship'' magazine and the
American Management Association
The American Management Association (AMA) is an American non-profit educational membership organization for the promotion of management, based in New York City. Besides its headquarters there, it has local head offices throughout the world.
It ...
named her one of the most influential people in corporate governance, and in 2014 she was inducted into the ''Directorship'' 100 Hall of Fame. She is currently the president and CEO of Barbara Franklin Enterprises, a private international consulting firm.
Franklin was one of the first women graduates of the
Harvard Business School. She was married to
Wallace Barnes
Wallace Barnes (March 22, 1926 – December 10, 2020) was the chairman and chief executive officer of Barnes Group, Inc., a global manufacturer of aerospace and industrial components. The company's symbol is "B" on the New York Stock Exchange.
B ...
, retired chairman and CEO of
Barnes Group.
Early life, family, and education
Born as Barbara Ann Hackman in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on March 19, 1940, to Mayme (née Haller) and Arthur A. Hackman. She attended
Hempfield High School
Hempfield High School is a public senior high school located in Salunga-Landisville, Pennsylvania, United States. It serves both East and West Hempfield townships and serves as the only high school for Hempfield School District.
Demographics
* ...
in
Landisville, Pennsylvania. Prior to her graduation in 1958, she was the class
valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution.
The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...
, president of the
student council, captain of the field hockey and tennis teams, and a cheerleader.
In 1962, Franklin graduated with distinction from
Penn State University and received its Distinguished Alumni Award in 1972. She is a sister of
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Alpha Theta (), also known simply as Theta, is an international women’s fraternity founded on January 27, 1870, at DePauw University, formerly Indiana Asbury. It was the first Greek-letter fraternity established for women. The main arc ...
and was its Beta Phi chapter president. At Penn State, she was the president of
Mortar Board
Mortar Board is an American national honor society for college seniors. Mortar Board has 233 chartered collegiate chapters nationwide and 15 alumni chapters.
History
Mortar Board was the first national honor society for college senior women ...
, secretary-treasurer of
Pi Sigma Alpha
Pi Sigma Alpha ( or PSA), the National Political Science Honor Society, is the only honor society for college and university students of political and social sciences in the United States. Its purpose is to recognize and promote high academic ...
, a member on the Liberal Arts Student Council, and a representative to the Student Government Association. Dorothy Lipp, the dean of women at Penn State, nominated Franklin for a full-scholarship to the
Harvard Business School, which was, for the first time, opening its doors to women and would accept one nomination from Penn State. With a partial scholarship and loans, Franklin entered the newly co-ed Harvard Business School as one of 14 women in a class of 680 men. In 1964, Franklin received her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and was honored with an Alumni Achievement Award in 2004.
For several years after her graduation, she worked in the corporate world. She joined the
Singer Company
Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac Singer, Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward Cabot Clark, Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing ma ...
in New York City, first in the consumer products division and then as a member of the corporate planning staff. At Singer, she became manager of environmental analysis, creating a new function that tracked competitive activity globally. After four years there, she became the assistant vice president on the corporate planning staff of the
First National City Bank
Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...
(later
Citibank) in New York City from 1969 to 1971. At the time, she was tasked by the CEO,
Walter Wriston
Walter Bigelow Wriston (August 3, 1919 – January 19, 2005) was a banker and former chairman and CEO of Citicorp. As chief executive of Citibank / Citicorp (later Citigroup) from 1967 to 1984, Wriston was widely regarded as the single most inf ...
, to study the bank's relationships with government entities. Her analysis led to the bank's first government relations department, which she created and headed until 1971.
[Stout, Lee. "A Matter of Simple Justice: The Untold Story of Barbara Hackman Franklin and a Few Good Women." Penn State Libraries, 2012.]
Government service
Nixon administration
In 1971, while at the First National City Bank, Franklin was recruited by President
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
to bring more qualified women into high-level, policy-making government positions. Her appointment was part of a multi-pronged initiative by the Nixon administration following a press conference on February 6, 1969. During this press conference, Vera Glaser, a reporter for the
North American Newspaper Alliance, asked President Nixon,
In February 1971, Nixon gave
Fred Malek
Frederic Vincent Malek (December 22, 1936 – March 24, 2019) was an American business executive, political advisor, and philanthropist. He was a president of Marriott Hotels and Northwest Airlines and an assistant to United States Presidents Ric ...
, head of Presidential Personnel and a former classmate of Franklin's at Harvard Business School, the task of hiring a woman who would spearhead the effort to recruit other women for policy-making government jobs. Malek asked Franklin to be this recruiter, and on April 12, 1971, Franklin began her position for this presidential initiative. An official press release from the White House announced Franklin on April 22, 1971, as a "Staff Assistant to the President for Executive Manpower" – a title that was later changed simply to "Staff Assistant to the President" after her first press conference, wherein the press questioned how she could recruit women with the word ''manpower'' in her title.
[
On April 21, 1971, Nixon issued a directive to the heads of White House departments and independent agencies to create specific action plans to "clearly demonstrate our recognition of the equality of women by making greater use of their skills in high level positions." He required these executive departments to:
# Develop and put into action a plan for attracting more qualified women to top appointive positions by the end of the year;
# Develop and put into action a plan for significantly increasing the number of women, career and appointive, in mid-level positions;
# Ensure the substantial numbers of the vacancies on their Advisory Boards and Committees be filled with well-qualified women; and
# Designate an overall coordinator who will be held responsible for the success of the project. On each of these requirements, Nixon required the heads to submit their plans no later than May 15, 1971.]
Following the release of this memorandum, Franklin was charged with monitoring the implementation progress on each departments' action plans.
By April 1972, along with the other presidential initiatives, Franklin's efforts led to the tripling of the number of women placed into policy-making positions, from 36 women to 105 women, in this first year alone. By May 1973, this number further increased to 130 women, and Franklin had created a talent bank of 1,000 qualified women for future openings. More than half of these policy-making positions to which women were appointed during this time were previously held only by men. Among them were Cynthia Holcomb Hall
Cynthia Holcomb Hall (February 19, 1929 – February 26, 2011) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central Di ...
, judge on the United States Tax Court
The United States Tax Court (in case citations, T.C.) is a federal trial court of record established by Congress under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, section 8 of which provides (in part) that the Congress has the power to "constitute Tr ...
; Marina von Neumann Whitman
Marina von Neumann Whitman (born March 6, 1935) is an American economist, writer and former automobile executive. She is a professor of business administration and public policy at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business as well as ...
, the first woman on the president's Council of Economic Advisers; Romana Banuelos, the first Hispanic to be U.S. treasurer; Betty Southard Murphy, general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Na ...
; and Dixy Lee Ray
Dixy Lee Ray (September 3, 1914 – January 2, 1994) was an American politician who served as the 17th governor of Washington from 1977 to 1981. Variously described as idiosyncratic and "ridiculously smart," she was the state's first female gover ...
, the first and only woman to chair the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.[
At the mid-level, more than 1,000 women were advanced into many positions that women had never held before, such as sky marshals, tug boat captains, FBI agents, and forest rangers.][ The number of women appointed to boards and commissions increased as well, from over 250 in the first year, to 339 women by the end of May 1973. It was during this time that the first women became generals and admirals in the U.S. Armed Forces.][
]
''A Matter of Simple Justice''
On March 8, 2012, the book ''A Matter of Simple Justice: The Untold Story of Barbara Hackman Franklin and A Few Good Women'' was launched at the National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...
in Washington, D.C., in a program covered by C-SPAN and moderated by Judy Woodruff
Judy Carline Woodruff (born November 20, 1946) is an American broadcast journalist who has worked in network, cable, and public television news since 1976. She is the anchor and managing editor of ''PBS NewsHour''. Woodruff has covered every presi ...
of PBS NewsHour
''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events.
Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the pro ...
. The book is written by Lee Stout, Librarian Emeritus and former Head of Public Services and Outreach for Special Collections at the Penn State University Libraries. When he retired in 2007, Stout had served as Penn State's university archivist for 27 years. In 1994, Franklin donated her governmental papers to the Penn State University Archives. Stout was cataloging Franklin's papers when he became interested in those which detailed her service to recruit women in the Nixon administration. He called Franklin and suggested an oral history project to preserve the memories of the men and women involved in this presidential initiative.
In 1997, the "A Few Good Women" oral history project was created with an advisory board chaired by Franklin and with a cooperative relationship with the Penn State University Libraries. Initially, the Board had a list of twelve women appointees from the Nixon administration to be interviewed, including Margita White, Constance B. Newman, and Helen Delich Bentley
Helen Delich Bentley (November 28, 1923 – August 6, 2016) was an American politician who was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland from 1985 to 1995. Before entering politics, she had been a leadi ...
, former Congresswoman and Chair of the Federal Maritime Commission
The United States Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is an independent federal agency based in Washington, D.C. that is responsible for the regulation of oceanborne international transportation of the U.S. It is chaired by Daniel B. Maffei.
His ...
. The list eventually expanded to include nearly 50 interviews, which are currently housed in the Special Collections Library at Penn State University.
''A Matter of Simple Justice: The Untold Story of Barbara Hackman Franklin and A Few Good Women'' is based on the "A Few Good Women" oral history project. In a two-part format, the book first focuses primarily on the historical narrative of the Nixon administration's efforts to bring women into high-level government positions, Franklin's specific efforts, and the results of this period. In the second part of the book, Stout highlights the personal stories of many of the other interviewees from this project, such as Ambassador Anne Armstrong, Senator Elizabeth Dole
Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford Dole (née Hanford; born July 29, 1936)Mary Ella Cathey Hanford, "Asbury and Hanford Families: Newly Discovered Genealogical Information" ''The Historical Trail'' 33 (1996), pp. 44–45, 49. is an American attorn ...
, Judge Cynthia Hall, and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Carla Hills
Carla Anderson Hills (born January 3, 1934) is an American lawyer and a public figure. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 5th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Gerald Ford from 1 ...
. Interviewees talk about early influences, breaking down barriers, the impact on family, the role of networking, and the particular challenge of gaining entry to the legal profession.
The "A Few Good Women" project has received major funding from the Aetna Foundation, which has also provided grants for the "A Few Good Women" teaching aids project, designed by Penn State University Libraries staff. The teaching aids are designed to provide the oral histories, biographies, audio segments, images, and digitized historical documents of the "A Few Good Women" collection in the form of a curriculum for students in grades 6–12.[
]
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Franklin's accomplishments as a staff assistant to President Nixon led to her nomination by Nixon as one of the first of five original commissioners of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). She was sworn in on May 14, 1973, for a term of seven years. She served under presidents Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
. On June 13, 1973, she was elected and served as the first Vice Chairman of the CPSC until 1974. She served again as the Vice Chairman from 1977 to 1978. During these years, Franklin concentrated on improving safety for children and pioneering the use of cost/benefit analysis. Her letters to President Carter and her speeches led to that administration's creation of the United States Regulatory Council to coordinate the numerous agencies engaged in research or regulation of carcinogens, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration'' (OSHA ) is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. Congress established the agenc ...
(OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
(FDA).
Part-time presidential appointments
Prior to her appointment as Secretary of Commerce, Franklin held several part-time presidential appointment positions, including her membership of the President's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (1982–86; 89–91) by appointment of presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. She chaired the Task Force of Tax reform (1985–86) and was a member of the North American Free Trade Agreement (1991). She was appointed by President George H. W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as an Alternative Representative & Public Delegate, UN General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Cur ...
, 44th Session (1989–90).[
]
Secretary of Commerce
On December 26, 1991, President George H.W. Bush announced his intention to nominate Franklin as the 29th Secretary of Commerce, replacing Robert Mosbacher. This nomination was approved by the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
and shortly thereafter she was sworn in on February 27, 1992, which made Franklin the highest-ranking woman in the George H.W. Bush administration and the 13th woman to serve in the US Cabinet
The Cabinet of the United States is a body consisting of the vice president of the United States and the heads of the executive branch's departments in the federal government of the United States. It is the principal official advisory body to th ...
.[
As Secretary of Commerce, she achieved a major goal: increasing American exports, most notably with China, Russia, Japan, and Mexico. She led a presidential mission to China in December 1992 for the purpose of normalizing commercial relations between the United States and China. In China, she and her counterpart, Minister ]Li Lanqing
Li Lanqing (; born 22 May 1932) is a retired Chinese politician who served as first-ranked Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China between 1998 and 2003. He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ...
, reconvened the Seventh Session of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT). The JCCT had been moribund since the events at Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square (; 天安门广场; Pinyin: ''Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng''; Wade–Giles: ''Tʻien1-an1-mên2 Kuang3-chʻang3'') is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the eponymous Tiananmen ...
in June 1989, when the U.S. placed a sanction on China banning high-level government-to-government contact. Her mission lifted that sanction and brought back $1 billion in new contracts for American companies. This mission gave a "green light" to U.S. companies interested in business opportunities in China, and trade with China grew dramatically in the ensuing years as did U.S. investment in China.[
In a letter to the editor of the New York Times published on December 29, 1992, Franklin said:
In January 1993, Franklin's appointment as Commerce Secretary ended with the inauguration of ]Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
to the presidency.
Political activity
Franklin has been a participant in every Republican convention from 1972 to 2008 as a delegate, organizer, or speaker, and has been involved in numerous campaigns, both on the national and state levels. Franklin was an early supporter of George H. W. Bush following his bid for the 1988 nomination. She was co-chair of the national finance committee, organized outreach activities, and chaired a fundraising dinner in 1991 for his campaign that raised more than $1 million.
Business and corporate governance
In 1979, Franklin was named a Senior Fellow of the Wharton School of Business
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...
at the University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
. From 1980 to 1988, she worked and lectured at the Wharton School's MBA program and served as the director of the Wharton Government and Business Program. At Wharton, Franklin recreated a program to bring MBA candidates to Washington, D.C. as part of their course work.
Following her departure from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Franklin was offered seats on the boards of several large U.S. companies, such as Dow Chemical, Aetna, Inc.
Aetna Inc. () is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plan ...
, and Westinghouse. By the end of the 1980s, Franklin was on the boards of seven large companies and was cited by the American Management Association as one of the 50 most influential corporate directors in America. Franklin has served on the board of directors of 14 public companies and four private companies. She has served on every possible board committee, and has chaired six public company audit committees, two governance committees, and has served as lead director. She was non-executive chairman of Guest Services, Inc.
Currently, she is a member of the International Advisory Board of LafargeHolcim, Zurich, Switzerland. She became Chairman Emerita of the National Association of Corporate Directors
The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) is an independent, not-for-profit, section 501(c)(3) founded in 1977 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. NACD's membership includes the entire boards of 1,700+ corporations as well as ...
(NACD) in May 2013, following the completion of a four-year term during which NACD expanded dramatically. She is Chairman Emerita of the Economic Club of New York
The Economic Club of New York is a U.S. nonprofit and non-partisan membership organization dedicated to promoting the study and discussion of social, economic and political questions.
History
Founded in 1907, the Economic Club of New York is t ...
, of which she served as the first woman chairman, and is the past president and first woman president of the Management Executives' Society.
She is a board member of the U.S.-China Business Council, a board member of the National Committee on United States – China Relations, the Atlantic Council, the Richard Nixon Foundation
The Richard Nixon Foundation is a not-for-profit organization based at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California. It was founded in August 1983 by Richard Nixon, 37th president of the United States, and served ...
and the National Symphony Orchestra. She is a member of the Committee for Economic Development (CED), the Council on Foreign Relations, the Asia Society, the International Women's Forum and member emeritus of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Advisory Council. She is a former trustee of the Pennsylvania State University and a former member of the Board of Dean's Advisors at Harvard Business School.
Franklin is a founding member of Executive Women in Government and of the Women's Forum of Washington, D.C. Franklin has been a regular commentator on international economic matters and corporate governance on national media sources, most notably PBS's ''Nightly Business Report
''Nightly Business Report'' was an American business news magazine television program that aired on public television stations from January 22, 1979 to December 27, 2019, for most of that time syndicated by American Public Television. Interna ...
''.[
Prior to her service as Secretary of Commerce, in 1984 she founded Franklin Associates, a management and consulting firm, where she served as the president and CEO until 1992.][ Currently, she serves as the president and CEO of Barbara Franklin Enterprises, headquartered in Washington, DC.
]
Awards and honorary degrees
Governance awards
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Leadership awards
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Franklin is also included in numerous "Who's Who" publications.
Honorary degrees
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See also
* List of female United States Cabinet members
The Cabinet of the United States, which is the principal advisory body to the president of the United States, has had 38 permanent female members serving as vice president or head of one of the federal executive departments and 31 wo ...
References
External links
A Few Good Women... The Honorable Barbara Hackman Franklin
Barbara Franklin Enterprises
*
''A Matter of Simple Justice: The Untold Story of Barbara Hackman Franklin and A Few Good Women''
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Barbara Hackman
1940 births
20th-century American politicians
American women chief executives
Atlantic Council
Connecticut Republicans
Dow Chemical Company
George H. W. Bush administration cabinet members
Harvard Business School alumni
Living people
Pennsylvania Republicans
Pennsylvania State University alumni
Businesspeople from Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Politicians from Lancaster, Pennsylvania
United States Secretaries of Commerce
University of Pennsylvania
Women members of the Cabinet of the United States
20th-century American women politicians