Martha Michele Burns (born February 1958 in Georgia) is an American businesswoman.NNDB
/ref> She was chairman and CEO of Mercer between 2006 and 2011 and was director on the boards of a number of major American companies, including

Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

, and

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, Ho ...

Education

She received a

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in 1979, a

Master of Accountancy The Master of Accountancy (MAcc, MAcy, or MAccy), alternatively Master of Science in Accounting (MSA or MSAcy) or Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAcy, MPAcc or MPAc), is a graduate professional degree designed to prepare students for public ...

from the same university in 1980.Kevin Roose
Goldman Adds a Board Member
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', October 28, 2011World Economic Forum

''

BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

'', October 28, 2011

Early career

From 1981 to 1999, she worked for

Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corporat ...

as a Senior Tax Partner.Goldman Sachs Board of Directors
She served as Vice President for Corporate Tax of

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along ...

from 1999 to 2000, and as its

Executive Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

and

Chief Financial Officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and fina ...

from 2000 to 2004.Forbes profile
/ref> From 2004 to 2006, she served as EVP, CFO and restructuring officer of

Mirant GenOn Energy Holdings, formerly Mirant Corporation, was a subsidiary of GenOn Energy, and is now a part of NRG Energy. The company was spun off from its former parent, Southern Company, on April 2, 2001. The company was merged into GenOn Energy o ...

CEO and director

From 2006 to 2011, she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Marsh & McLennan, and Chairman and CEO of Mercer.Wal-Mart Board of Directors
/ref> She sits on the Boards of Directors of

.Retirement of John H. Bryan and Lois D. Juliber from Goldman Sachs Board of Directors and Appointment of New Lead Director and New Audit Committee Chair
''

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Mana ...

'', April 2, 2012 Previously, she sat on the Boards of

, Orbitz and Worldspan.

Support of politics and arts

She supports the Democratic Party. She has supported

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic ...

and

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

, and she has made donations to

EMILY's List EMILY's List is an American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "Early Money ...

. She sits on the Boards of Trustees of the

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, USA. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. History Though earlier organizations bearing ...

and the

Elton John AIDS Foundation The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) is a nonprofit organization, established by rock musician Sir Elton John in 1992 in the United States and 1993 in the United Kingdom to support innovative HIV prevention, education programs, direct care a ...

, where she serves as Treasurer.Elton John AIDS Foundation Board of Directors
/ref> In 2010, she earned $4,648,029.00.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, M. Michele Living people 1958 births Terry College of Business alumni Delta Air Lines people Directors of Walmart Directors of Goldman Sachs