Jamie Tarses

At age 32, Tarses became the youngest person and the first woman to preside over a network entertainment division. As President of ABC Entertainment, she reported to division Chairman Ted Harbert, who held her job before being promoted. This personal triumph followed an exceedingly eventful year at NBC Entertainment where she had spent the better part of a decade climbing swiftly up the corporate ladder. The daughter of celebrated sitcom producer, writer and director Jay Tarses ("The Bob Newhart Show," "Buffalo Bill," "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd"), Tarses used her not insignificant connections--then NBC Entertainment president Brandon Tartikoff got her her first network job--to get her foot in the door. But once inside, her meteoric rise was a testament to her own drive and talent.