Lynn D. Salvage
Lynn D. Salvage | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 6, 1946 New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Business executive, banker |
| Years active | 1970s–1981 |
| Known for | Second president of First Women's Bank; president and CEO of Katharine Gibbs School |
Lynn D. Salvage (born June 6, 1946) is an American business executive and banker who, at the age of 30 in 1977, became the second president of New York’s First Women's Bank. Before this appointment, she held the position of vice president at Bankers Trust Company and served as a special assistant for international affairs at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Salvage was also among four Harvard Business School alumnae who spearheaded a two-year effort beginning in 1970 to secure full membership rights for women at the Harvard Club of New York City.
Family and education
Lynn Salvage was born in New York City to Edward and Rita Salvage. Her maternal grandfather, Arthur Hoffman, was a professor specializing in mathematics and economics based in Prague and Pilsen. She completed her secondary education at Long Beach High School on Long Island before earning a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from the University of Pennsylvania. She later obtained an MBA from Harvard Business School. Salvage is proficient in French and German, and has conversational skills in Spanish, Arabic, and Russian.
In 1979, she wed investment banker Donald R. Kaplan in a ceremony held at Harvard University's Memorial Chapel.
Career
Following her graduation from Harvard Business School, Salvage pursued a banking career based in New York City. Over five years at Bankers Trust Company, she rose to the role of vice president with responsibilities for international investments. Additionally, she spent one year in Washington D.C. working as a special assistant for international affairs at the U.S. Department of the Treasury through an executive exchange initiative.
In February 1977, Salvage assumed the presidency of the First Women's Bank of New York, a women-owned financial institution established in 1975 to address the banking needs of women underserved by conventional banks. She succeeded Madeline McWhinney Dale, the founding president. At that time, the bank had yet to achieve profitability; Salvage concentrated on optimizing operations and increasing deposits while maintaining a balance between advancing women's empowerment and fulfilling fiduciary duties to its predominantly female shareholder base of 7,000. Early during her leadership, she remarked, "The best service this bank can do the cause of female equality is make some money."
Under Salvage’s direction, First Women's Bank achieved modest profits in both 1978 and 1979. Choosing not to renew her contract after 1979, she transitioned industries by becoming president and CEO of the Katharine Gibbs School in 1980. Established in 1911 by society matron Katharine Gibbs to prepare women for executive secretary roles, the school’s mission resonated with Salvage’s ambition to modernize secretarial professions through new office technologies anticipating a shift toward paperless operations. Her tenure there was short-lived; she resigned in 1981.
Involvement in the women's movement
While Salvage did not formally align herself with feminist organizations during the 1970s and 1980s, she engaged actively with groups such as Harvard Businesswomen of New York and the YWCA. In 1974, she was honored by the American Federation of Women's Clubs as one of America’s distinguished women.
In 1970, she collaborated with three other female Harvard Business School graduates to advocate for women’s full membership and dining privileges at the Harvard Club of New York City.
In 1979, Salvage was included in the supersisters trading card series, which recognized her leadership role as president of First Women's Bank.
External links
The full set of supersisters trading cards, along with information on Lynn Salvage, can be accessed through the Feminist Institute's Digital Archive available online.