MARTHA LAYNE COLLINS, governor of Kentucky from 1983 to 1987, has been a trailblazer for women in government, education and business. When elected, Collins was the only female governor in the nation. She was the first in Kentucky and first in the South elected in her own right. While governor, she appointed a record number of women to administrative offices. In 1984, she chaired the Democratic National Convention.

One of the biggest advantages Collins found to being a woman was that she stood out in a crowd. "When I went overseas, there might be six governors over there at the same time-all trying to attract economic development," Collins said. "Well, they didn't get me mixed up."

Collins was responsible for the creation of record jobs and investments and was instrumental in bringing Toyota Motor Manufacturing to Kentucky. While criticized for offering Toyota $147 million in incentives, today the company's investment in Kentucky is $3.4 billion. In addition, the Toyota plant helped attract over 90 Japanese companies to Kentucky.

Collins is credited with the passage of a $300 million education reform package, a significant accomplishment on its own, which also paved the way for the landmark Kentucky Education Reform Act in the next administration.

Her public service career began in 1971with the gubernatorial campaign of Wendell Ford. She was elected clerk of the Supreme Court of Kentucky in 1975. Collins went on to successfully run for lieutenant governor where she served as both vice-chair and chair of the National Conference of Lieutenant Governors.

Collins is currently Executive Scholar in Residence at Georgetown College. Previously, she was director of the International Business and Management Center at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. Collins also spent six years as president of St. Catharine College in Springfield, Kentucky.

Collins is recognized throughout the country as a leading expert in international business, especially in the area of Japanese-American business relations. She travels regularly to Europe and Asia and develops trade programs.

In 1998, she chaired the Commission on the Future of the South, a group sponsored by the Southern Growth Policies Board which meets every six years to report on the state of economic and social progress in the Southern states.

She has also been a Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an executive-in-residence at the University of Louisville School of Business. Active in civic, community and professional organizations, Collins is a director of R.R. Donnelley and Sons, Co., Bank of Louisville, Eastman Kodak Co. Inc. and a member of the Advisory Board of the Norfolk Southern Corporation.