Project Summary

This is a series of interviews with Myra Leigh Tobin about her life, her rise through ranks, and her role as a philanthropist.

A native of Harned, Kentucky, Tobin earned a bachelor’s in home economics from UK, a master’s in counseling psychology from Ohio State, and a master’s in business administration from New York University. She worked for U.S. Rep. William Natcher and in the Kentucky Department of Commerce and General Electric’s marketing management program. She worked at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Marsh and McLennan Companies, where she became senior vice president and managing director, a position she held from 1982 until retirement in 1998. She was the first woman with a master’s in business administration hired by Marsh and McLennan, the first woman managing director of the firm and the first chair of the firm’s Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry Committee.

Tobin’s support of UK HealthCare enabled a new chapel, the Myra Leigh Tobin Chapel, to be constructed in the new UK hospital. She has served as president of the UK Alumni Association and served for six years on the UK board of trustees. She served as president of the Kentuckians of New York, was a founding member of the board of the New York Women’s Foundation and served on the board of trustees of the First Presbyterian Church in New York City.

Tobin was inducted into the UK Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2000.