A member of the board of directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, Diane Farrell '73 was nominated by President George W. Bush and was confirmed by the Senate in August 2007. Her term ended in January 2011. Diane served two terms in Connecticut as Westport's First Selectwoman (1997-2005), and was first elected with 59 percent of the vote. Reelected with 70 percent of the vote in 2001, she was responsible for the construction of badly-needed state-of-the-art school buildings while also overseeing the town's Finance Department, which maintained its AAA bond rating. From 1993-97, she served on the Westport Board of Finance. An unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Connecticut's 4th congressional district in 2004 and 2006, Diane previously was elected chair of Fairfield County's Southwestern Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization, a group responsible for managing economic development, post 9-11 homeland security, open space preservation, and environmental quality. She has also served on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. With more than 25 years of professional experience in financial management in the private and public sectors, her work has included managing political and not-for-profit groups, as well as government and educational programs at the state, national and international levels.