Ursula Burns reflects on her activities during the years of the Obama presidency, throughout which she was chairman and CEO of Xerox, and discusses her engagement with the Obama administration, which she supported through her service as vice chair and chair of the President's Export Council (PEC) and as an ex officio member of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness; Burns also helped l ead Change the Equation, the White House's CEO-led initiative for improved education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Burns recounts her upbringing and professional development, describes her initial impressions of Barack Obama around the time of the 2008 election, and speaks widely about the major issues facing the American economy following the financial crisis. She describes the relationship between the Obama presidency and American industry, and between the American public and private sectors, and provides details about events, issues, and initiatives with which she was closely involved, including Obama's July 2009 meeting with CEOs at the White House; the December 2009 White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth; intellectual property protections and desired tax policy changes; the activities of the PEC and the importance of increased exports to the economic recovery; and the motivations for, and structure of, Change the Equation. Also discussed are Burns' experience traveling abroad with Obama, including on his 2016 visit to Cuba; Obama's leadership style and approach to decision-making about economic issues; and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
Presidents--United States; Global Financial Crisis, 2008-2009--United States; Intellectual property--United States; Taxation--Law and legislation--United States; Burns, Ursula, 1958-; Obama, Barack; President's Export Council (U.S.); President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness (U.S.); Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement ( 2016 February 4)
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2022
Physical Description
59 pages
Note (Biographical)
Ursula Burns is an American business executive. During the years of the Obama presidency, she was chairman and CEO of Xerox, which made her the first African American woman to serve as CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Burns also engaged with the Obama ad ministration through her service as chair and vice-chair of the President's Export Council (PEC) and as an ex officio member of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. She also helped to lead the White House's CEO-led initiative for improved education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). In 2021, she published a memoir titled "Where You Are Is Not Who You Are: A Memoir"
Note
Interviewed by Dov Weinryb Grohsgal on March 24, 2022. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Ursula Burns, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023