Trustee Lisa Barry ’77 brings deep experience in international government relations

Lisa Barry ’77, a veteran of 35 years of international government relations work, has joined the Bates Board of Trustees. She attended her first trustee meeting in late January.

Barry, known as a leader in global policymaking for major corporations, had a nine-year career at Boeing, where she served as vice president for commercial international operations and international trade policy.

She is credited with positioning Boeing as a U.S. company synonymous with exports and international trade, and played a leading role in the overall business community’s effort to normalize U.S.-China commercial relations.

Barry went from Boeing to Time Warner Inc., where she was senior vice president for international public policy in the communications giant’s Global Policy Group.

Among many achievements there, she was a key member of a team working to establish foreign Internet service in China, and managed the Global Business Dialogue on E-Commerce, a CEO organization that shaped the global policy and regulatory regime for the Internet.

Barry has served most recently as senior adviser at Chevron, a position from which she retired on Jan. 31, 2014. At Chevron, Barry previously served as vice president and general manager for government affairs and her achievements included broadening recognition of energy as a major source of economic, foreign policy and security leadership for the U.S.

Barry began her career on the staff of the late U.S. Rep. Silvio O. Conte, of Massachusetts. From 1980 to 1986, she worked in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and later served as principal deputy assistant secretary for import administration at the Department of Commerce. Between 1987 and 1989, Barry worked in the private sector as vice president of the Council on Competitiveness.

Barry was a government major at Bates, where she was a dean’s list student and graduated cum laude with membership in Phi Beta Kappa and the College Key. She holds a master’s degree in foreign service with high honors from Georgetown University.

Barry has stayed involved with Bates as a donor and a volunteer. She has been an active fundraiser on behalf of the college, served on the Alumni Council and hosted numerous Bates interns in her office at Chevron. As a Distinguished Alumna in Residence in 2011, she addressed economics and sociology classes, met individually with students interested in energy-related careers, and delivered a keynote address in Muskie Archives.

Barry currently serves on the Board of Refugees International and the Advisory Board of Argol America, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Barry resides in Chevy Chase, Md., and is married to James E. Gale. They have two sons: James R. Gale, who works in Washington, D.C., and William B. Gale, a sophomore at Davidson College in North Carolina.