Recognized as the first woman to receive the NACD Director of the Year award, honoring her trailblazing leadership on major corporate boards.
In 1987, Juanita M. Kreps became the first woman to receive the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Director of the Year award. The specific presentation date is not documented, but the recognition that year marked an important breakthrough for women in corporate governance.
By 1987 Kreps had served on the boards of major corporations and institutions, including the New York Stock Exchange, AT&T, Citicorp, Chrysler, Eastman Kodak, J.C. Penney, United Airlines, John Deere, and TIAA‑CREF. She brought to these roles a distinctive perspective as a labor economist and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, emphasizing long‑term workforce issues, aging, and demographic change.
Corporate boards in the 1980s remained overwhelmingly male, particularly in the largest industrial and financial firms. The NACD Director of the Year award, given to Kreps as its first female recipient, signaled growing recognition that women could provide exemplary leadership in boardrooms traditionally closed to them. Her selection reflected not tokenism but sustained contributions across multiple companies and nonprofit institutions.
The 1987 award also helped legitimize the presence of academic economists and former public officials on corporate boards, highlighting the value of policy expertise and social‑science research in corporate decision‑making. For younger women entering business and law, Kreps’s honor provided a high‑profile example of how a woman could move from rural poverty to national office and then to pre‑eminent status in corporate governance.