Ernest C. Arbuckle Award

Stanford GSB honored Mary Barra, MBA ’90, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors, with the 2024 Ernest C. Arbuckle Award. A program to honor Mary Barra took place in May 2024 at Stanford University.

Mary Barra is Chair and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors (GM). She was elected Chair of the GM Board of Directors in 2016 and has served as CEO of GM since 2014.

Under Barra’s leadership, GM envisions a world with zero crashes, to save lives; zero emissions, so future generations can inherit a healthier planet; and zero congestion, so customers get back a precious commodity – time.

She is focused on creating the best customer experience and strengthening GM’s core vehicle and services business, while also working to deliver transformative technologies such as electrification, autonomous driving and software.

Prior to becoming CEO, Barra served as GM executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain, and as senior vice president, Global Product Development. In these roles, Barra and her teams were responsible for the design, engineering, and quality of GM vehicle launches worldwide.

Previously, she served as vice president, Global Human Resources; vice president, Global Manufacturing Engineering; plant manager, Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly; and in several other executive engineering and staff positions.

Barra began her career with GM in 1980 as a General Motors Institute (Kettering University) co-op student at the Pontiac Motor Division. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering in 1985, followed by an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1990.

Barra serves on the Board of Directors of the Walt Disney Company, the Duke University Board of Trustees, and the Detroit Economic Club.

Presented annually by Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Ernest C. Arbuckle Award recognizes excellence in the field of management leadership.

The award was created in 1968 in honor of the late Stanford GSB dean whose name it bears. Recipients demonstrate a commitment to both managerial excellence and to addressing the changing needs of society.