Sixteen years ago, Kimberly (McCoy) Summe shared the stage with President George H.W. Bush during OSU's 1990 commencement.

As president of the Student Government Association and a graduating senior, Summe was one of the few students selected to meet Bush personally.

"I remember noticing what an exceptional listener he was," she says. "Admittedly, most successful politicians have this skill, but President Bush really appeared genuine in his interest in the students he met with on graduation day and in hearing about our career plans."

The 41st U.S. president asked if she were interested in a career in politics and smiled at her answer. "I blurted out that I thought being chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank was perhaps more interesting as a career path than the day-to-day politicking that went on in Washington, D.C. He smiled warmly and said that the chairmanship was certainly a critical seat of power."

Since graduating, Summe has earned a master's in economics from the London School of Economics in International Relations, a law degree and master's degree from Cambridge University and a juris doctorate from the University of Chicago.

Today she works as general counsel for the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, the largest financial trade association in the world, developing contracts for all derivatives products that financial institutions, companies and governments use globally. She also works with regulators and legislators in more than 70 countries to ensure the strength of their national insolvency laws.

A presidential visit should inspire Americans to take an interest in governmental decision and actions, she says. "Our system of democracy is only as robust, thoughtful and reflective of our values as the effort we as citizens put into our participation in any form of government, be it local, state or national."

Summe, who lives in New York with her husband, Philip, and daughters, Isabella, 3, and Charlotte, 1, says she'll never forget the honor of meeting the president of the United States.

"Someone should have pinched me that day because it was just hard to believe that a 19-year-old girl from Duncan, Oklahoma, would suddenly have the ear of the most powerful man on earth."