Jennifer F. Scanlon is president and chief executive officer of UL. Scanlon's deep commitment to science, technology, engineering, and math shape her approach to advancing UL’s leadership in driving confidence and trusting the next generation of innovation.
Prior to becoming CEO in September 2019, Scanlon served as president and CEO of USG Corporation, a manufacturer of innovative building products. During her 16 years at USG, she also served as chief information officer (CIO) and head of corporate strategy. She led the company through a major international expansion, transformed the role of technology in driving operational efficiency and customer satisfaction, and invested in research to develop sustainable building materials. She began her career at IBM. Scanlon’s experience will be central to building new offerings, opening new markets, and creating the next generation of solutions at UL.
Scanlon is a fierce advocate for STEM education. She is also dedicated to increasing diversity in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields; enabling greater organizational diversity; and improving the ability of organizations to fully understand and meet the needs of a diverse stakeholder base.
Scanlon sits on the board of Norfolk Southern Corporation and serves as vice chair of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. She is also a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, The Chicago Network, and the Economic Club of Chicago. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame with dual degrees in government and computer applications and an MBA in finance and marketing from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Jennifer F. Scanlon:
I'm Jenny Scanlon. I graduated from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1992. I was very young when I applied to Booth. I was 22 years old. I would not trade that opportunity to have joined this storied institution, at that young age, for anything.
Last year, I had the opportunity to take my dream job, CEO and President of UL. I love UL because it draws upon the science, the math, the engineering, the technology of my background, all of those elements that Booth trained me for.
I grew up in the Chicagoland area. My father was a teacher and a football coach. He revered University of Chicago and that was in my blood. When I had the opportunity to matriculate at University of Chicago Booth, my father was proud and I was just so excited to be part of this organization, the storied university that I had heard about my entire life. But what's evolved is the deep connections that I make immediately upon meeting people from Booth.
The neat thing about it is we were all trained in that deep, like-minded, quant approach to thinking about the numbers, thinking about the data, and boiling business down to its essential elements of what matters and what problems we really need to solve.
When I think about the students of the future and the role that they can play, especially being connected to Booth, I would advise them to take the jobs that other people don't want and solve the problems that are the really tough problems. There is still an opportunity for more women to seize the day and understand that they can do the math and they can be extraordinarily successful.
Receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award is first of all, incredibly humbling. When I think about the people who have walked the halls of Booth and I think about the company that I keep, it's really pretty amazing to be part of this group. It also made me so proud to call my dad and tell him what I had achieved and the recognition that the university that he's revered for his 87 years of life, has bestowed this honor upon me.
