Barbara Franklin

Barbara Ann Hackman Franklin (née Hackman; born March 19, 1940) is an American government official, corporate director, and business executive. She served as the 29th U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 1992 to 1993 to President George H. W. Bush, during which she led a presidential mission to China.

Before her cabinet position, Franklin served in the presidential administrations of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan. She was one of the original commissioners and first vice chair of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. In 2006, she received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service.

Franklin has served on the board of directors of 18 companies, including Dow Chemical, Aetna Inc., Westinghouse, and Nordstrom. Directorship magazine and the American Management Association 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 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, retired Chair and CEO of Barnes Group.

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 in Landisville, Pennsylvania. Before her graduation in 1958, she was the class valedictorian, president of the student council, captain of the field hockey and tennis teams, and a cheerleader.

In 1962, Franklin graduated from Pennsylvania State University and received its Distinguished Alumni Award in 1972. She is a sister of Kappa Alpha Theta and was its Beta Phi chapter president. At Penn State, she was the president of Mortar Board, secretary-treasurer of Pi Sigma Alpha, a member of 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 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.

In 1971, while at the First National City Bank, Franklin was recruited by President Richard Nixon 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,

Mr. President, in staffing your administration, you have so far made about 200 high-level Cabinet and other policy position appointments, and of these only three have gone to women. Can you tell us, sir, whether we can expect a more equitable recognition of women's abilities, or are we going to remain a lost sex?

In February 1971, Nixon gave Fred Malek, 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 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 directed 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;

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.

In 1979, Franklin was named a Senior Fellow of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. From 1980 to 1988, she worked and lectured at the Wharton School's MBA program and served as the Wharton Government and Business Program director. At Wharton, Franklin recreated a program to bring MBA candidates to Washington, D.C., as part of their coursework.

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., and Westinghouse. By the end of the 1980s, Franklin was on the boards of seven large companies. The American Management Association cited her as one of America's 50 most influential corporate directors. Franklin has served on the board of directors of 14 public and four private companies. She has served on every possible board committee, chaired six public company audit committees, served on two governance committees, and served as lead director. She was the non-executive chair of Guest Services, Inc.

She is a member of the International Advisory Board of LafargeHolcim, Zurich, Switzerland. She became Chair Emerita of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) in May 2013, following the completion of a four-year term during which NACD expanded dramatically. She is Chair Emerita of the Economic Club of New York, of which she served as the first woman chair, 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 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.

1981 (1981): Award for Corporate Leadership, Catalyst

1987 (1987): Directors' Choice Award, National Women's Economic Alliance

1990 (1990): 50 Most Influential Corporate Directors, American Management Association

1992 (1992): John J. McCloy Award for Contributions to Excellence in Auditing, Public Oversight Board, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

2000 (2000): Director of the Year, National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD)