In 2006, Katharine Jefferts Schori was the first woman to become the United States Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop. She became chief pastor to 2.4 million members in some 7,600 congregations in the U.S. and convocation of churches in Europe, spanning 16 countries.

The Episcopal Church is one of 38 provinces of the 73 million member Anglican Communion. Jefferts Schori is the first woman in the Anglican Church's five-century history to serve as head of one of its provinces.

Before becoming Presiding Bishop, she was Bishop of Nevada. A former university professor, Jefferts Schori is an oceanographer and airplane pilot. She and her husband, Richard Miles Schori, a retired theoretical mathematician, have one daughter who is a first lieutenant and pilot in the U.S. Air Force.