Bea Adams – 2007
Bea Adams made her mark in the advertising community at a time when women were usually relegated to secretarial jobs. She began in 1935 as a copywriter at Gardner Advertising. Ten years later she had risen to executive vice president. The next year she became the agency’s creative director. During the decade of the ‘40s, Ms. Adams was a pioneer in the use of psychological research in the creation of ads. She was named National Advertising Woman of the Year in 1956 and was also listed in Fortune magazine’s top 36 American businesswomen and Life magazine’s 27 Women of Achievement. She retired from Gardner in 1972.