Shelly Lazarus has been working for more than three decades at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide and is currently Chairman of the worldwide company.
Education: BA, Smith College, 1968 MBA, Columbia University, 1970
Personal: Married to George Lazarus Three children
Background: She started at Ogilvy at a time when the agency's legendary founder David Ogilvy still walked the halls, and personally preached that the purpose of advertising was to build great brands. Under her leadership, that essential mission has remained the centerpiece of the company's philosophy, extending across regions and marketing disciplines, and attracting some of the world's largest and most respected brands, including American Express, BP, Coca-Cola, IBM, Motorola and Unilever, among many others.
Rising through the ranks of account service, Lazarus has held positions of increasing responsibility in the management of the company, including president of O&M Direct North America, Ogilvy & Mather New York, Ogilvy North America, chief operating officer, and chief executive officer of Ogilvy & Mather Wolrdwide.
Lazarus' impressive and distinguished career has won her numerous accolades including being the first woman to receive Columbia Business School's Distinguished Leader in Business Award. Advertising Women of New York honored her as its Woman of the Year in 2004, she received the Women in Communications Matrix Award in 1995, was named Business Woman of the Year by the New York City Partnership in 1996, as well as Woman of the Year in 2002 by DMA. She is the recipient of the 2009 Visionaries! Award from the Museum of Arts and Design.
Lazarus has appeared in Fortune magazine's annual ranking of America's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business for ten years since the list's inception in 1998. She serves on the board of several corporate, philanthropic, and academic institutions such as: General Electric; Merck; New York Presbyterian Hospital; American Museum of Natural History; Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy; World Wildlife Fund; and the Board of Overseers of Columbia Business School, where she received her MBA. She also served five years as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Smith College, her alma mater, and was previously chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies.
Lazarus is currently a member of the Advertising Women of New York; The Committee of 200; Council on Foreign Relations; The Business Council; Women’s Forum, Inc.; and Deloitte & Touche Council for the Advancement of Women.
