Biography of Gloria Cordes Larson
A public policy expert, lawyer and business leader, Gloria Cordes Larson assumed the presidency of Bentley College in July 2007. She 
joined Bentley from the leading law firm Foley Hoag, where she co-chaired the Government Strategies Group. The practice that she managed covered a broad array of regulatory and business development issues at the federal, state and local levels.
Widely influential in economic policy, President Larson led a business advisory cabinet for Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and co-chaired his transition team. Her contributions also include chairing the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority. Under her leadership, the organization oversaw renovation of the MassMutual Center in Springfield and construction of the $800 million Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
In the administration of former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, she served as secretary of economic affairs (1993 to 1996) and secretary of consumer affairs and business regulation (1991 to 1993). Prior to that, President Larson managed business and regulatory issues as a senior official with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). She served as an attorney advisor to the FTC commissioner from 1981 to 1988, and as the agency’s deputy director of consumer protection from 1990 to 1991.
In January 2005, President Larson was appointed to the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy Board. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino tapped her to serve on the city’s Host Committee for the 2004 Democratic National Convention. President Larson is a director of Unum Group and lead director of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. She is a board member on several prominent professional and community organizations, including the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, for which she is the newly elected chair of the board; Boston Center for the Arts; Roger Williams University School of Law; Massachusetts Women’s Forum; Rosie’s Place; and The Dimock Center. She is a member of the Massachusetts, Virginia and Boston bar associations.
Many groups have recognized President Larson’s longstanding commitment to civic duty, especially her work in raising awareness of the need for education reform and in promoting the role of business in changing that landscape. These honors include:
• Appointment to the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors
• Lawyer of the Year, Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly and Massachusetts Bar Association
• Academy of Distinguished Bostonians Award, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
• Number one on the list of “100 Most Powerful Women in Boston,” Boston magazine
• Norman S. Rabb Human Relations Award, American Jewish Committee
• Pinnacle Award, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
• Abigail Adams Award, Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus
• International Business Leader Award, International Management Development Association
• Outstanding Women Business Leaders Award, New England Council
President Larson received a Bachelor of Arts with honors from Vassar College and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law. She holds honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Northeastern University and from Mount Wachusett Community College. She
is married to Allen Larson, an attorney.
