Claire Harbeck Babrowski

Class of 1975 Claire Harbeck Babrowski began working at McDonald’s in Ottawa at the age of 16 and rose to the rank of the No. 2 person in the McDonald’s Corporation, an organization international in its scope. Upon graduation from Ottawa, she attended the University of Illinois but was soon working at the golden arches again becoming a restaurant manager in Decatur in 1976. Claire Harbeck Babrowski never earned her undergraduate degree, but instead received a Master’s Degree from the University of North Carolina’s executive MBA program in 1995. After receiving her MBA, she rose through numerous promotions Executive Vice President, U.S. Restaurant Systems, then to Executive Vice President Worldwide Restaurant Systems, President of McDonald’s Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and eventually to Corporate Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Restaurant Operations Officer. In 2005, Claire Harbeck Babrowski joined Radio Shack Corporation as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer until February 2006 when she was promoted to President and acting Chief Executive Officer, a position she held until September of 2006.