Barbara L. O'Connor
President, AAUW Educational Foundation

Barbara O’Connor’s life has been marked by her commitment to equity no matter where she has lived. A native of Illinois, she became a world traveler after her graduation from the University of Illinois with a degree in secondary social studies education. She, her husband, and their family lived in South Carolina, Maryland, New York, Florida, Singapore, Malaysia, Lebanon, Panama, and Puerto Rico. During her nearly 27 years abroad, O’Connor has worked as an educator whose professional and volunteer experiences enabled her to hone her leadership skills in diverse settings.

O’Connor was elected president of the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation in 2005. She joined AAUW in San Juan in 1979 and has been an active volunteer for the Educational Foundation as a contributor, fundraiser, branch Educational Foundation chair, and Educational Foundation chair on the board of AAUW of Florida. She served as co-president and chair of several board committees. On the national level, she was local arrangements co-chair for the 1995 AAUW Convention in Orlando, chair of the 1998 Conference of State Presidents Planning Committee, and Leader on Loan to AAUW of Oklahoma. She is a contributing member of the Virginia Gildersleeve Fund.

O’Connor has served as an appointee to the Sarasota County Advisory Committee on the Status of Women since 1995. She is on the board of the Sarasota Opera Guild and was the Florida Women’s Consortium get out the vote chair. She has remained active in educational issues as co-president of the University of Illinois Alumni Association and is a member of many organizations, including UNIFEM and the Florida Women’s Consortium.