Barbara Barrett takes oath as U.S. Ambassador to Finland

05/20/2008

Alumna Barbara Barrett takes oath as U.S. Ambassador to Finland
     Barbara McConnell Barrett, a business leader and lawyer who has dedicated her life to serving her community, state, country and world, recently was sworn in as Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of Finland.
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Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
administers the oath of office to Phoenix business leader Barbara
Barrett, the new Ambassador of the United States to the Republic
of Finland, as Ambassador Barrett's husband, Craig, looks on.
Photo by Frank Zampino.
     Ambassador Barrett, a Paradise Valley resident and quadruple graduate of Arizona State University, was nominated on March 13 by President George W. Bush, unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 29 and sworn in by retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on April 30.
     Ambassador Barrett took the oath of office, with her husband, Craig, holding the family Bible beside her, before about 200 family members, friends, colleagues and dignitaries during a ceremony in the Great Hall at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at ASU. The swearing in was preceded by remarks from Justice O'Connor, Mark Jacobs, Dean of Barrett, The Honors College, which was named for the Barretts in 2000, Patricia D. White, Dean of the College of Law, Chief Justice Ruth V. McGregor of the Arizona Supreme Court, and Dean Emeritus Alan Matheson of the College of Law.
       "It would indeed be a privilege to represent the President and the American people anywhere, but especially in Finland, a respected and important friend of the United States at a pivotal time in the region," Ambassador Barrett said.
     She chose to take her oath in Arizona, rather than at the State Department in Washington, D.C.
     "She was thinking mainly of honoring and involving honors (college) students, her friends, her ASU and ASU law professors, and of calling attention to her alma mater, which is very typical of Barbara," Jacobs said.
      Ambassador Barrett said Finland, like Arizona, is relatively small in population, but has contributed disproportionately to world leadership just as Arizona has to national leadership. 
      "Finland is often ranked the most democratic nation in the world, the most Internet connected and the least corrupt," she said. "But the most significant predictor of the future may be the performance of Finland's educational institutions that have received top ratings."
      White said the ceremony was an important day for the College of Law.
      "This is the first time ever, I suspect, that the following will have taken place: the namesake of one of the colleges of this university is sworn in to federal office by the namesake of another college of this university," said White, noting that Ambassador Barrett is a 1978 alumna of the College of Law. "This is a great thrill and honor."
     It was the second time Justice O'Connor had administered an oath to federal office to Ambassador Barrett. In 1983, with then-President Ronald Reagan looking on, she was sworn in at the White House by Justice O'Connor as vice chair of the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board.
     Justice O'Connor said she first met Ambassador Barrett in 1972 when the future Ambassador was an intern at the Arizona State Legislature and the future Supreme Court Justice was Senate Majority Leader.
     "She distinguished herself all the way back then," Justice O'Connor said. "We're very blessed that she's willing to become an ambassador for us because it's an important thing, and goodness knows, we need friends around the world.
     "And I'm sure an accomplished horsewoman like Barbara will be able to saddle up a reindeer while on her assignment in Finland," she joked.
      Chief Justice McGregor, also a College of Law alumna, noted that much had happened since the 1970s when she and the Ambassador received their law-school diplomas.
     "Thirty years ago, we had no idea there would be a woman on the Supreme Court of the United States. We had no idea that this law school would be named for Justice O'Connor. We had no idea we would be able to get jobs at all," McGregor said.
     "I suspect Barbara, in her wildest dreams, never thought she would become the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Finland, a position for which she is well qualified," she said.
     Matheson, a professor while Ambassador Barrett was in law school, recalled that she was a confident, competitive, intelligent and passionate student. She was courageous in her career building, and has proven to be a loyal and gracious alumna, Matheson said.
     "It's a marvelous decision to have her be the Ambassador to Finland," he said. "She will serve us all as a citizen of this country, and she will serve us well. They will love her as we love her."
     Virginia Stewart, a close friend of the Ambassador's and former placement director at the College of Law, noticed something special in her while Ambassador Barrett was a law student. The pair, who spent many Saturday mornings riding horses together, would ride and talk about life's turns, the law and the future.
     "She had corporate law in her sights," Stewart said. "She was aiming high, and when she made up her mind, she did it."
     Ambassador Barrett's appointment to the office of U.S. Ambassador to Finland is another example of her determination and excellence, Stewart said. "The way things were going for her, it was no surprise," she said. "And I think she will be absolutely wonderful. It's great for the United States - they need more people like her."
      Ambassador Barrett, who was president and CEO of Triple Creek Guest Ranch in Darby, Mont., prior to her appointment by President Bush, has a list of achievements that is extensive and remarkable. Before age 30, she had been the executive of two Fortune 500 transportation companies. In the 1980s, she was a partner in the Phoenix law firm of Evans, Kitchel and Jenckes and the first woman to serve as deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. Ambassador Barrett also was president of the Arizona World Affairs Council, Arizona World Trade Association and Economic Club of Phoenix, and was national chairman of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce's Export Conference.
     In the 1990s, Ambassador Barrett became president and CEO of the American Management Association, the founding chairman of Valley Bank of Arizona, and was a Republican candidate for Arizona governor (in 1994). She also was an Institute of Politics Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and was a member of DACOWITS, the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services.
     In 2000, as president of the International Women's Forum, Ambassador Barrett led a delegation of women leaders around the world to the People's Republic of China and assisted in establishing or revitalizing forum chapters in Russia, South Africa, Jordan, Ireland, Chile, Argentina and Ecuador. She was a senior advisor to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and the first woman to chair the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. 
     Ambassador Barrett also held leadership positions in the Freedom House, the Center for International Private Enterprise, the National Legal Center and the Global Center for Dispute Resolution Research.
     Most recently, Ambassador Barrett served on the corporate boards of Raytheon and Exponent, Inc. She was a trustee of the Aerospace Corporation, Mayo Clinic and Thunderbird School of Global Management, as well as a member of the Horatio Alger Association Board, Defense Business Board and Smithsonian National Board.
     Ambassador Barrett holds a bachelor's degree in liberal arts, and a master's degree in public administration, and honorary degrees have been conferred on her by ASU, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Thunderbird School of Global Management and the University of South Carolina.
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Guests at the ceremony included, from left, Arizona Supreme Court
Chief Justice Ruth V. McGregor, Justice O'Connor, Barbara and Craig
Barrett, Patricia D. White, Dean of the Sandra Day O'Connor College
of Law, Mark Jacobs, Dean of Barrett, The Honors College, and Dean
Emeritus Alan Matheson of the College of Law.
Photo by Frank Zampino.  
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