Genuine Kansas - Linda Z. Cook

Linda Zarda Cook, an American CEO of Shell Gas & Power, part of Royal Dutch Shell, in London and later in Canada. The first of a very few female leaders in the male dominated oil industries. She has been recognized as one of the world's leading female entrepreneurs in the recent years.

Ms. Cook was named the 11th most powerful businesswoman in the world by Fortune magazine in October 2002; her ascendance to the list in 2001 was reported in the first edition of KU Connection. She graduated from the University of Kansas in petroleum engineering in 1980. Ms. Cook is a member of board of directors of The Boeing Company.A Shawnee native, has led the Gas & Power division since January 2000. From her home in London, she has traveled to many of the 40 countries that are part of the division's operations, which produce annual revenues of $15 billion. She began her career in 1980 as a Shell reservoir engineer in the United States, advancing through the company to accept greater responsibilities in exploration and production with Shell U.S.A. Her first European assignment came in 1998, when she and her family moved to the Netherlands, where she led Shell International EP.