August 01, 2001 >
A former vice-president for human resources at the Xerox Corporation has been named CEO of the copying giant.

Anne Mulcahy's promotion is cause cheering among women and HR pros alike, since she becomes only the fifth woman to reach the top position in a Fortune 500 company.

She spent 25 years rising through the ranks of Stamford, Conn.-based Xerox, serving from 1992 to 1995 as head of HR. In that job, she was responsible for compensation, benefits, human resource strategy, labor relations, and employee training.

It's still big news when a woman becomes a high-ranking executive in any major corporation, Diversity.com reports.

Though the 2000 census statistics show that w omen make up 46 percent of the nation's total labor force, they represent only 12.5 percent of corporate officers in America's 500 largest companies, 1,622 out of 12,945 positions, according to Catalyst Women.

Women represent 4.1 percent (93 out of 2,255) of top earners and comprise 6.2 percent (154) of the 2,488 individuals holding top titles such as chairman, CEO, vice chair, president, COO, senior executive vice president, and executive vice president.

As CEO of Xerox, Mulcahy will replace Paul Allaire, who will serve as chairman until he retires at the end of this year.

"I am ready and privileged to lead a team of dedicated employees who are as sharply focused and committed as I am in the successful turnaround of our company, transforming it to the realities of the digital age and putting Xerox back on a growth trajectory," Mulcahy said.

Her appointment is part of a leadership strategy that was put in place when Allaire returned as the company's CEO in May.

Allaire explained in a statement: "The plan called for gradual transition of leadership, with Anne becoming CEO when the board was confident of the effective execution of Xerox's turnaround."

Mulcahy, 48, who will assume her new duties today, has a bachelor's degree from Marymount College in Tarrytown, N.Y. She started out at Xerox as a field sales representative and earned increased responsibility and executive positions, working as chief staff officer and president of the company's General Markets Operations.

Most recently, she served as president and chief operating officer, starting in May 2000. In 1998, she became senior vice president of the corporation. Prior to that, she served as vice president and staff officer for Customer Operations, with business in South America and Central America, Europe, Asia and Africa, and China.

To view the Diversity.com story, click here.