Born: 9/20/1958 New York City, New York

Burns was appointed CEO of Xerox in 2009, and over the last 5 years, she has worked tirelessly towards transforming the company’s image as a manufacturer of printers to a full-fledged services business. And it’s working well. Services now represent 57% of the company’s $21.4 billion full-year revenue and could possibly account for two-thirds by 2017. Burns joined Xerox as a summer intern in 1980 and joined the company permanently in 1981 after completing her masters at Columbia University.

Business / Schooling:

• New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering, Columbia University

Awards / Achievements:

• she is the first black-American woman CEO to head a Fortune 500 company.