Carole L. Brown named new Chicago Transit Authority Board Chief

Jet, Oct 27, 2003

Harvard-educated public financial expert Carole L. Brown has been chosen by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley to chair the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA).

Brown succeeds Valerie Jarrett, who is stopping down after eight years as chairman. Brown is senior vice president of Chicago-based Lehman Brothers where she oversees Lehman Brothers' Midwest Municipal Finance Office, which generates revenues of more than $10 million per year.

Brown will keep her position with Lehman Brothers. The finance office will sever its business ties with the CTA to avoid any conflict of interest.

As board chief some of Brown's duties will be to improve day-to-day management, help assure that affordable, quality service is being provided to all CTA riders and find new ways to increase ridership and to continue to protect riders.

"I have great confidence that Carole will help improve the CTA's management even more, and that she will focus on the needs of the CTA's riders," Daley said.

Brown received a bachelor's degree from Harvard University and a master's of management from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.