Sheila Bair
The Growing Risk of Another Financial Crisis
Former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair (2006-2011) joins an exclusive group of difference makers as the 2026 recipient of the prestigious Truman Medal for Economic Policy.
Ms. Bair emerged as one of the most respected voices during the 2008 financial crisis. She championed accountability for financial institutions deemed “too big to fail” and consistently advocated for policies that protected taxpayers, consumers and community banks.
Her leadership earned her the Profiles in Courage Award and twice on the Forbes list of the world’s most powerful women.
Bair said of the Truman Medal honor, “I’d like to think one of the reasons I was given the award was recognition for my outspokenness on certain things to protect the public. Harry Truman was certainly known for his outspokenness as well.”
The Truman Medal for Economic Policy is organized in part by The Economic Club of Kansas City. Click on Programs to learn more about past honorees.
"Harry Truman was certainly known for his outspokenness as well. It’s a common trait of Midwesterners. I am a native Kansan."
Sheila Bair, 2026 Truman Medal Recipient
Speakers Sheila Bair
FDIC Chair (2006-2013) & 2026 Truman Medal for Economic Policy Honoree
Sheila C. Bair was sworn in as the 19th Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in 2006. She was appointed Chairman for a five-year term and as a member of the FDIC Board of Directors through July 2013.
Chairman Bair has an extensive background in banking and finance in a career that has taken her from Capitol Hill, to academia and to the highest levels of government.
She started her career as the Research Director, Deputy Counsel and Counsel to Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (1981 to 1988).
Since becoming FDIC Chairman, Ms. Bair has received a number of prestigious honors. Among them, in 2009 she received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.
In 2008, Forbes magazine named Ms. Bair as the second most powerful woman in the world after Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Chairman Bair received a bachelor's degree from the University of Kansas and a J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law.
More recently, she’s become the author of the children’s picture book series Money Tales that teaches children about the economics of money through engaging stories.