UK to welcome TIAA President and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett to campus

Photo of Thasunda Brown Duckett.
TIAA President and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct.13, 2022) — University of Kentucky Human Resources will welcome Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) President and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett to campus 3-4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, for a fireside chat session. 

Duckett joined TIAA in 2021 after serving as chief executive officer of Chase Consumer Banking. Previously, she was CEO of Chase Auto Finance and national retail sales executive for Chase Mortgage Banking.

Duckett sits on numerous boards, including Nike, the Economic Club of New York and the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Duckett also founded the Otis and Rosie Brown Foundation, in honor of her parents, to recognize and reward people who use ordinary means to empower and uplift their community in extraordinary ways. She is passionate about helping communities of color close achievement gaps in wealth creation, educational outcomes and career success.

As TIAA’s president and CEO, Duckett leads a company whose mission is defined by financial inclusion and opportunity — goals and values she has upheld throughout her career.

“Visiting college campuses allows me to get proximate to what’s on the minds of students and faculty at our client institutions,” Duckett said. “It also facilitates honest discussions about some of our most pressing challenges, like harnessing the power of diversity, equity and inclusion and ways we can use our voices to push for meaningful change, especially when it comes to gender and racial equity. As one of just two Black female CEOs in the Fortune 500, these are deeply personal topics to me, and I know there is still more work to be done. These conversations are just one way we’re working with intentionality to make real, sustainable progress.”

Duckett will join UK Vice President for Institutional Diversity Katrice Albert for an open discussion in the grand courtroom of the J. David Rosenberg College of Law. Topics include career advice and inspiration, financial wellness, strategies for wealth building, and combating barriers to gender and racial equity in corporate America. 

A Q&A session with the audience will close out the conversation.  

TIAA is a retirement and investment provider available to UK faculty and staff, and they have been working with the university for years to ensure Wildcats receive the retirement they deserve.

The event is open to the entire community and will also be streamed online. To join via Zoom, visit the link

UK HR hopes the campus community will take advantage of this exciting opportunity. If you have any questions, please contact Richard Amos at Richard.Amos@uky.edu

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.