Barbara Desoer, MBA 77, is Chief Technology and Operations Officer for Bank of America, where she leads strategy development and execution for Bank of America's technology platforms and operations capabilities. Desoer also leads the continued development and implementation of the company's increasingly important payments strategy.

Desoer's broad mandate - one that covers technology connecting Bank of America with its approximately 53 million consumer households, as well ensuring that critical operations function reliably and efficiently to the satisfaction of the bank's customers - requires strong technical, analytical, and strategic skills. Desoer says she was drawn to Haas because the school provided her with a comprehensive education in these core areas.

She says her time at Haas has helped her throughout her career by giving her both a analytical foundation and early leadership experience. "The MBA program provided me with a foundation of technical skills which I have applied in various roles throughout my career," she says. "Team projects in the program helped me understand group dynamics such as leadership, compromise, and how to more effectively work as a team."

Desoer joined Bank of America in 1977 and, over the course of her distinguished career, earned respect of her colleagues at all levels. During Desoer's leadership of the bank's consumer products division, Bank of America gained the number one industry positions for retail banking, deposit market share, number of banking centers and ATMs, and the number of active online banking customers. In 2006 and in 2007, US Banker named Desoer one of the "25 Most Powerful Women in Banking."

Desoer is passionate about using the "voice of the customer" to inform her business decisions. She believes strongly in the value of managing using analytics, and is committed to constantly improving business processes.