After graduating from Chatham Hall, Laura Brown Cronin ’72 earned a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.B.A from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She spent her professional career in corporate finance with her first eight years in a variety of financial roles for two different high technology companies. In 1986 she was named Treasurer, Executive Committee Member for Millipore Corporation, a Fortune 1000 company.
Laura stepped out of the corporate world in 1987 to raise her three sons while running her own part-time consulting business. She began consulting for her prior employers and branched out to include assignments that ranged from a Fortune 500 company to evaluating the sale of a family owned pet supply store chain.
Laura joined Fidelity Investments in 1996. She spent her first 9 years in a variety of financial roles. In 2002 she was promoted to Chief Financial Officer, serving on the Fidelity Management Committee and the Fidelity Mutual Fund Board. In 2005, she was named Executive Vice President within the Personal and Workplace Investing business which provides retirement and benefits solutions and servicing to over 20 million client employees. She was responsible for over 4,000 employees in the retirement call centers and supporting functions. In 2008, Laura was named Enterprise Transformation Officer for Fidelity Investments. She retired in 2010.
Laura’s community involvement includes coaching youth soccer and basketball, Board Member of the Acton Children’s School, and member of the Parent Advisory Committee for the Conant School. She also served her church on the Parish Council Finance Committee as well as teaching religious education classes. Laura served on the Council of Overseers for the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston. In this role, she assisted the Managing Director and the Finance Committee in strengthening the skill set and systems of the theatre’s finance team as the theatre began a major capital project.
Laura served on the Chatham Hall Board of Trustees (2005-2006, 2012-2017) lending her expertise to the Resource Management Committee (Chair), Executive Committee (Treasurer), and Rector Search Committee. She has also been a Class Agent for the class of 1972.