Printable Biography of Sherron S. Watkins

' She has testified before Congressional Committees from the House and Senate investigating Enron's demise. Ms. Watkins has been lauded in the press for her courageous actions. TIME magazine named Sherron, along with two others, Coleen Rowley of the FBI and Cynthia Cooper of WorldCom, as their 2002 Persons of the Year, for being "people who did right just by doing their jobs rightly." TIME magazine concluded that, "Democratic capitalism requires that people trust in the integrity of public and private institutions alike. As whistle-blowers, these three became fail-safe systems that did not fail. For believing-really believing-that the truth is one thing that must not be moved off the books, and for stepping in to make sure that it wasn't, they have been chosen by TIME as its Persons of the Year for 2002."

In recognition of her outstanding demonstration of ethics in the work place, Ms. Watkins has received numerous honors, including the Court TV Scales of Justice Award and its Everyday Hero's Award, the Women Mean Business Award from the Business and Professional Women/USA Organization, and the 2003 Woman of the Year Award by Houston Baptist University. Glamour Magazine named her one of its 2002 Women of the Year, and Barbara Walters included her as one of the 10 Most Fascinating People of 2002. In 2003, the Women's Economic Round Table honored her with the Rolfe Award for Educating the Public about Business and Finance, and the National Academy of Management presented Ms. Watkins with their Distinguished Executive Award for 2003.

Now an independent speaker and consultant, Ms. Watkins shares her insights as to what went wrong not only at Enron but with much of the whole system that equity markets rely on to function properly. She focuses on ethical leadership and how to avoid any semblance of Enron-like behavior. Ms. Watkins is co-author, along with prize-winning journalist, Mimi Swartz, of Power Failure, the Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron, published by Doubleday in March 2003.

Prior to joining Enron in 1993, Ms. Watkins worked for 3 years as the portfolio manager of MG Trade Finance Corp., a commodity lending boutique in New York and for 8 years in the auditing group of both the New York and Houston offices of Arthur Andersen.

Ms. Watkins is a Certified Public Accountant. She holds a Masters in Professional Accounting as well as a B.B.A. in accounting and business honors from the University of Texas at Austin.

Ms. Watkins is married with one child and resides in Houston, Texas.