VIDEO: Lifetime Achievement: Eileen K. Murray, Bridgewater Associates

As co-CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund, our winner is responsible back-office and support operations, with oversight of about 750 employees.

She describes her childhood, growing up in an NYC housing project, as “low in income, but rich in many other ways.” After graduating from Manhattan College, she entered the world of finance and it has been an upward arc from there. Often, she has been the “first woman” in the roles she has played — after beginning her career at KPMG, Eileen joined Morgan Stanley where she became Chief Operating Officer of the firm’s Institutional Securities Division. She later joined Credit Suisse as Head of Global Technology, Operations, and Product Control, where she became the first woman appointed to Credit Suisse’s Executive Board.

At work, she focuses on steady leadership and innovation, and throughout her career, she has championed programs to help women and men balance work and family responsibilities, as well as diversity, workforce training, and career development initiatives. After hours, she has made active community, charitable and professional association involvement a priority, and has devoted enormous amounts of time to the organizations she has supported over the years.

The winner for Lifetime Achievement is Eileen K. Murray of Bridgewater Associates.