Faust, Cited for Broad Influences, Makes Forbes List of World’s Most Powerful Women

NEW YORK—University President Drew G. Faust is the 47th most powerful woman in the world, according to a recent ranking by Forbes Magazine.

While Faust’s ranking doesn’t quite measure up to German Chancellor Angela Merkel (number one) or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (number four), Harvard’s first female president does outrank First Lady Laura Bush (number 60), news anchor Katie Couric (number 63), and the presidents of several small nations.

Out of the 100 women on the list, Faust is the only one with a job in higher education, despite the fact that four Ivy League schools are led by women. She is the only university president since at least 2004 to make the list, based on searches of the Forbes Web site.

The rankings are based on the number of times a woman is mentioned in the press, her resumé, and “the size of the economic sphere over which a leader holds sway,” according to the list’s companion article.

The list’s blurb on Faust cites her status as the University’s first female president, her numerous academic prizes and teaching awards, and the size of Harvard’s endowment—which was around $30 billion at the time of the list’s publication—as factors contributing to her selection.

Also on the list is Kennedy School of Government graduate Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who was elected in 2005 as the president of Liberia, becoming Africa’s first female leader. Johnson-Sirleaf squeaked in at number 100.