Anne M. Mulcahy is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Xerox Corporation. She was named CEO of Xerox on August 1, 2001, and chairman on Jan. 1, 2002.

Mulcahy most recently was president and chief operating officer of Xerox from May 2000 through July 2001. Prior to that, she was president of Xerox’s General Markets Operations, which created and sold products for reseller, dealer and retail channels.

She began her Xerox career as a field sales representative in 1976 and assumed increasingly responsible sales and senior management positions. From 1992-1995, Mulcahy was vice president for human resources, responsible for compensation, benefits, human resource strategy, labor relations, management development and employee training.

Mulcahy became chief staff officer in 1997 and corporate senior vice president in 1998. Prior to that, she served as vice president and staff officer for Customer Operations, covering South America and Central America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Mulcahy earned a bachelor of arts degree in English/journalism from Marymount College in Tarrytown, N.Y. In addition to the Xerox board, she is a board director of Catalyst, Citigroup Inc., Fuji Xerox Company, Ltd., Target Corporation, The Washington Post Company, and is the chairman of the corporate governance task force of the Business Roundtable.

Mulcahy's advice for other companies facing massive problems, particularly during the current financial crisis? "Do not defend yourself against the inevitable." In other words, face reality and get your team aligned with the new vision that will result in reinvention.

To that she adds, "Focus on client service instead of financial engineering." It's too bad that failed financial firms like Lehman, Bear Stearns, AIG, and Wachovia didn't listen to her counsel. Actually, one troubled financial giant is listening: Mulcahy left the board of Fannie Mae four years ago to join the board of Citigroup, where she is offering advice to its new CEO, Vikram Pandit.

Learning her lessons well from the previous debacle, Mulcahy is once again transforming Xerox—the plain paper copier company. Her new vision? She wants to eliminate paper in the office altogether and become the company that manages digital content.

Career: Xerox, 1976–1991, field sales representative; 1992–1995, vice president, human resources; 1996–1997, vice president and staff officer, customer operations worldwide; 1998, senior vice president and chief staff officer; 1999–2000, president, general markets operations; 2000–2001, president and chief operating officer; 2001–2002, president and chief executive officer; 2002–, chairman and chief executive...

WYD Team