Thursday, Feb. 23, 7:30 a.m. at Bell Harbor Conference Center
Global banking executive to speak at University of Puget Sound Business Breakfast
TACOMA, Wash. – Deanna Oppenheimer ’80, consistently named one of the most powerful women in banking, will be the keynote speaker at the 2012 Puget Sound Business Breakfast on Thursday, February 23. The graduate and trustee emerita of University of Puget Sound will give a talk titled “Transforming Barclays’ Banking Operation” and will share her experience of running a major European bank’s retail division during the tumultuous global financial crisis.
When: Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012, 7:30–9:30 a.m.
Where: The Harbor Dining Room at Bell Harbor
2211 Alaskan Way, Pier 66
Seattle, WA
Admission: $25 for University of Puget Sound alumni, parents, and trustees;
$30 for general public
* RSVP online at www.pugetsound.edu/psbb or by phone at 800.339.3312
* Please reserve your space or table by Sunday, Feb. 19
Oppenheimer, an Idaho native with a high profile career in the U.S. and global banking industries, was recruited to London in 2005 to head the U.K. retail banking division of Barclays, a 300-year-old bank with 1,700 branches. Six successful years later, she has revolutionized the bank’s global retail and commercial banking division and helped secure the company’s recovery in Europe.
“Tearing down barriers comes naturally to Deanna Oppenheimer. She has transformed every facet of [Barclays’] business,” wrote American Banker magazine in October 2010, as it named Oppenheimer one of the “Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking.”
Before bringing what the London press called “the American Revolution” of customer service to the historically staid traditions of British banking, Oppenheimer refashioned the experience of banking back home at Washington Mutual. Under her leadership Washington Mutual was named one of the “Top 40 Store Concepts in the World” and the “Best Retail Bank in the Americas.” Among other consumer-friendly initiatives, she introduced in-branch coffee shops, children’s play areas, and free-form desks—groundbreaking concepts soon copied by competitors.
In her six years as chief executive of Barclays U.K. Retail and Business Banking, Oppenheimer transformed the division financially and culturally. Income doubled by the end of 2010; a local bank acquired by Barclays became a powerful mortgage bank arm; and Barclays’ mobile banking won more U.K. customers than any rival brand.
That same year Oppenheimer was appointed vice chair, Global Retail and Business Banking, allowing her to share the U.K.’s best retail practice with Europe, Africa, and other markets. In 2010 she added chief executive of Europe Retail and Business Banking to her responsibilities and stabilized the business in the midst of the euro crisis. In December 2011, Oppenheimer resigned from Barclays.
In addition to many other board and community roles, Oppenheimer has made extensive contributions to University of Puget Sound, where she served as chair of the board of trustees from 2003 to 2010. She and her husband, John Oppenheimer ’80, are the parents of a current Puget Sound student and of a recent graduate. In 2010 she was recognized by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) for her 30 years of leadership at the Tacoma-based national liberal arts college with the award of the Ernest T. Stewart Award for Alumni Volunteer Involvement.
The annual Puget Sound Business Breakfast is presented by University of Puget Sound Alumni Association, which boasts 40,000 members located around the globe.
Photos of Deanna Oppenheimer can be downloaded from: www.pugetsound.edu/pressphotos
Photos on page: Top right: Deanna Oppenheimer, courtesy of Barclays; Above left: Barclays headquarters in London Docklands, photo by C. Ford.
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