Skidmore alum, a top international executive, to lecture

Alumna Cynthia Carroll named one of Time's "100 most influential people"

Skidmore alumna Cynthia Carroll will discuss "Perspectives on the Global Economy, Sustainability, and a Career in the Natural Resources Industry" when she presents the 26 ^thannual F. William Harder Lecture in Business Administration at the college.

Free and open to the public, the lecture will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday,March 23, in Gannett Auditorium of Palamountain Hall. A light reception will follow.

Named one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World" in 2008, Carroll, who is chief executive of Anglo American PLC, has garnered international attention as the first woman - and first non-South African - to hold that post.

The 1978 Skidmore College graduate entered college with the goal of studying art history and languages. She took a geology course to satisfy her science requirement and discovered that she loved it. She earned a master's degree in geology at the University of Kansas and an MBA degree at Harvard.

An internship during her Skidmore years with Amoco Production Research Laboratories in Tulsa, Okla., set her on the path to a career in the petroleum industry; she later worked for Amoco, supervising geological fieldwork in oil exploration. She then spent nearly 20 years with the Canadian aluminum company Alcan, leading its Ireland division and becoming president and CEO of Alcan's Primary Metal Group.

Carroll joined Anglo American in 2007. Anglo American is one of the world's largest mining and metals enterprises?included among the top 20 companies of the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 Index?with interests in platinum, coal, iron ore, nickel, copper and diamonds. The company owns major stakes in the South African-based companies of DeBeers, the diamond company; Anglo Platinum, the biggest producer of platinum in the world; and Kumba Iron Ore.

Carroll is a non-executive director of BP plc and is a member of BP's Safety, Ethics and Environmental Assurance Committee of the Board.

In 2006 Newsweek magazine selected a small group of female business leaders from around the world and asked them to share insight on their professional achievements. Carroll wrote, "In all of my experience in male-dominated environments, I've learned that after a couple of months all that really goes away and it's all about performance, and building a team that wants to be world-class."

Skidmore's annual F. William Harder Lecture was inaugurated in 1985 through the generosity of F. William Harder, a Skidmore parent who served as trustee from 1968 to 1980. The lecture brings together students and faculty with industry leaders to explore the current business environment and upcoming challenges.