Where the World’s 20 Most Powerful Women Went to College
Most powerful women
Higher education is common among women around the world who have risen to positions of great power and influence. Forbes’ newest ranking of the world’s most powerful women in media, finance, technology and other fields was published in December 2025. According to the publication, the rankings are determined mainly by four metrics: impact, media, money and spheres of influence. The women on the “2025 Power List” represent $37 trillion in economic power, Forbes says, and many gained knowledge in college that helped them start and succeed in their professions. Here’s where the top 20 on the list pursued formal higher education — including one who didn’t.
20. Gwynne Shotwell
Occupation: President and COO of SpaceX
College: Northwestern University in Illinois
Age: 62
Place of Birth: Evanston, Illinois
Quote: “You won’t have control of whether you’re the smartest person in the room or not. But you have personal control over how hard you work, and how up to speed you are, and how prepared you are, so own that. Be very well prepared. Work really hard.”
19. Catherine MacGregor
Occupation: CEO of ENGIE
College: Ecole Centrale de Paris in France
Age: 53
Place of Birth: Morocco, Africa
Quote: “Energy is so top of mind. When you’re a utility, you feel that you’re really doing something important.”
18. Tarciana Paula Gomes Medeiros
Occupation: President and CEO of Banco De Brasil
College: Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil
Age: 47
Place of Birth: Campina Grande, Brazil
Quote: “We need an economy that can be both compassionate and inclusive.”
17. Kristalina Georgieva
Occupation: Managing director of the International Monetary Fund
College: University of National and World Economy in Bulgaria
Age: 72
Place of Birth: Sofia, Bulgaria
Quote: “My message to everybody is, learn to think of the unthinkable and then stay calm, adapt.”
16. Amy Hood
Occupation: Executive vice president and CFO of Microsoft
College: Duke University in North Carolina, Harvard University Business School in Massachusetts
Age: 54
Place of Birth: Nashville, Tennessee
Quote: “I know my great ideas are a lot better now than the ones I had when I felt the constrained pressure and weight of perfection.”
15. Ana Patricia Botin
Occupation: Executive chair at Santander
College: Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania
Age: 65
Place of Birth: Santander, Spain
Quote: “Other things equal, we should give a chance to women. That’s what I try to do.”
14. Gail Boudreaux
Occupation: President and CEO of Elevance Health
College: Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, Columbia University Graduate School of Business in New York
Age: 66
Place of Birth: Chicopee, Massachusetts
Quote: “Inspired by our purpose, fueled by our mission, and united by our values, our associates work hard each day to make a positive difference in the world.”
13. Melinda French Gates
Occupation: Founder of Pivotal Ventures
College: Duke University
Age: 61
Place of Birth: Dallas, Texas
Quote: “Having children made us look differently at all these things that we take for granted, like taking your child to get a vaccine against measles or polio.”
12. Ruth Porat
Occupation: President and chief investment officer of Alphabet
College: London School of Economics in the United Kingdom, Stanford University in California, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School
Age: 68
Place of Birth: Cheshire, England
Quote: “You can’t cost-cut your way to greatness.”
11. MacKenzie Scott
Occupation: Philanthropist and author
College: Princeton University in New Jersey
Age: 55
Place of Birth: San Francisco, California
Quote: “Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.”
10. Lisa Su
Occupation: Chair and CEO of AMD
College: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Age: 56
Place of Birth: Tainan, Taiwian
Quote: “The best thing you can do is learn from those mistakes so that you continue to get better. That’s the management style or leadership style I believe in, which is push people to their limit such that they can become better than they thought they could be.”
9. Abigail Johnson
Occupation: Chairman and CEO of Fidelity Investments
College: Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York, Harvard University Business School
Age: 64
Place of Birth: Boston, Massachusetts
Quote: “It is important to figure out how to balance long-standing traditions with new insights in order to make room for innovation.”
8. Jane Fraser
Occupation: CEO of Citi
College: University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, Harvard University Business School
Age: 58
Place of Birth: St Andrews, United Kingdom
Quote: “Your career is going to be measured in decades, and you’ll probably have many careers in your life, so make sure that you really enjoy each period of your life and make the most of it.”
7. Mary Barra
Occupation: CEO of General Motors
College: Kettering University in Michigan, Stanford University Graduate School of Business
Age: 64
Place of Birth: Royal Oak, Michigan
Quote: “If you truly want to ‘change the world,’ you need more than talent. You also need to do the work, because hard work beats talent, if talent doesn’t work hard.”
6. Julie Sweet
Occupation: Chair and CEO of Accenture
College: Claremont McKenna College in California, Columbia Law School
Age: 58
Place of Birth: Tustin, California
Quote: “If you aspire to senior leadership, you’re going to have to work hard. That doesn’t mean you have to give up everything.”
5. Claudia Sheinbaum
Occupation: President of Mexico
College: Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
Age: 63
Place of Birth: Mexico City, Mexico
Quote: “Values are positive characteristics of great importance that help us to be better individually and socially.”
4. Giorgia Meloni
Occupation: Prime Minister of Italy
College: None
Age: 49
Place of Birth: Rome, Italy
Quote: “To the women of this nation I want to say that being underestimated is a great advantage, because often they don’t see you coming.”
3. Sanae Takaichi
Occupation: Prime minister of Japan
College: Kobe University in Japan
Age: 64
Place of Birth: Nara Prefecture, Japan
Quote: “I will abandon the idea of a ‘work-life balance’ — I will work, work, work, work and work.”
2. Christine Lagarde
Occupation: President of the European Central Bank
College: Institut d’Etudes Politiques d’Aix-en-Provence in France
Age: 70
Place of Birth: Paris, France
Quote: “Every day, you have to prove yourself and convince — move forward and challenge yourself. And doubt all the time.”
1. Ursula von der Leyen
Occupation: President of the European Commission of the European Union
College: University of Gottingen and University of Munster in Germany, London School of Economics
Age: 67
Place of Birth: Brussels, Belgium
Quote: “Freedom and democracy need to be nourished and fought for every single day, so we can pass them on to the next generation. Just as we inherited them from those before us.”
Where the world’s 20 most powerful women went to college
1. Ursula von der Leyen: University of Gottingen and University of Munster in Germany, London School of Economics in the United Kingdom
2. Christine Lagarde: Institut d’Etudes Politiques d’Aix-en-Provence in France
3. Sanae Takaichi: Kobe University in Japan
4. Giorgia Meloni: None
5. Claudia Sheinbaum: Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
6. Julie Sweet: Claremont McKenna College in California, Columbia Law School in New York
7. Mary Barra: Kettering University in Michigan, Stanford University Graduate School of Business in California
8. Jane Fraser: University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, Harvard University Business School in Massachusetts
9. Abigail Johnson: Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York, Harvard University Business School
10. Lisa Su: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
11. MacKenzie Scott: Princeton University in New Jersey
12. Ruth Porat: London School of Economics, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School
13. Melinda French Gates: Duke University in North Carolina
14. Gail Boudreaux: Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, Columbia University Graduate School of Business
15. Anna Patricia Botin: Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania
16. Amy Hood: Duke University, Harvard University Business School
17. Kristalina Georgieva: University of National and World Economy in Bulgaria
18. Tarciana Paula Gomes Medeiros: Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil
19. Catherine MacGregor: Ecole Centrale de Paris in France
20. Gwynne Shotwell: Northwestern University in Illinois
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Where the World’s 20 Most Powerful Women Went to College originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 02/11/26: This article was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.