Sharon Bowen chairs the New York Stock Exchange. She was commissioner of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (2014–2017) and served as vice chair and acting chair of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (2010–2014). Bowen is a director of Intercontinental Exchange Inc., Neuberger Berman Group LLC, and Akamai Technologies Inc. She is a partner at Seneca Women, which connects and advances women in the economy. Bowen was an executive committee member and chair of the Law School Board at Northwestern University, and, in 2024, she received the Distinguished Alumni Award. Her other achievements include the 2022 Women in Derivatives Luminary Lifetime Achievement Award, 2011 Diversity Trailblazer Award of the New York State Bar Association, New York City Bar Association 2007 Diversity Champion, and Metropolitan Black Bar Association 2006 Lawyer of the Year. In 2022, she was inducted into the Futures Industry Association Hall of Fame.