TIAA has named Chase Consumer Banking CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett as its new president and CEO to succeed Roger Ferguson Jr., effective May 1.
Duckett will be the first woman to oversee the financial service giant’s $1.3 trillion in assets under management (AUM), and only the third African American woman to helm a Fortune 500 company full time. Former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns was the first Black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company, serving in that role from 2009 to 2016, and Walgreens named Rosalind Breweras its new CEO in January. Duckett’s hiring also marks the first time an African American Fortune 500 CEO will be succeeded by another African American.
“I often think about the day my father asked me to help him plan his retirement, and I had to tell him, ‘Dad, your pension is not enough,’” Duckett said in a statement. “Now, thanks to his work and sacrifices and the support of many others who have guided me throughout my life and career, I am blessed to join TIAA.”
At JPMorgan Chase, Duckett managed a banking network with more than $600 billion in deposits, 4,900 branches and over 40,000 employees, and she led the bank’s first major branch expansion in a decade, which added 400 new branches in 20 new markets.
Duckett is the executive sponsor of JPMorgan Chase’s Advancing Black Pathways program, the bank’s initiative to help African Americans close historical achievement gaps in wealth creation, education, and career success. She is also a member of the steering committee of JPMorgan Chase’s Women on the Move initiative, which aims to advance women in their careers and in business.
The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, medical, cultural and governmental fields. TIAA serves over 5 million active and retired employees participating at more than 15,000 institutions and has $1 trillion in combined assets under management with holdings in more than 50 countries (as of 31 December 2017).[7]
