Time names Barra to most influential list

Staff report

Time Magazine named General Motors CEO Mary Barra as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

The list, published Thursday, included some of the world’s most notable entertainers, artists, activists, politicians, athletes and business leaders.

Time included Barra in the “leaders” category of its annual list.

The 52-year-old Waterford, Mich., native rose to prominence when she earned the title of GM’s top executive earlier this year. Since then, she has been responsible for leading the Detroit automaker through a high-profile recall of 2.6 million cars linked to a faulty ignition switch.

Her poise in testifying before two Congressional committees has generally won her praise from observers and analysts.

“Only time [and the pundits] will judge Barra and the kind of job she’ll do for GM, its board of directors, its employees, the dealers and, most important, the people who buy its cars. If she remains as forthcoming as I’ve seen her on television with Congress, she will enjoy a long tenure at the helm,” Lee Iacocca, former president of Ford and the former CEO of Chrysler, wrote about Barra for Time.

Barra counted her parents as her biggest influences in a video posted on Time’s website.