Faye Wattleton is the president of the Center for the Advancement of Women, an independent, nonpartisan non-profit research and education institution dedicated to advocating for the advancement of women.

From 1978 to 1992, as president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) Ms. Wattleton played an unsurpassed role in defining the national debate over reproductive rights and health, and in shaping family planning policies and programs around the world. As the youngest person and first woman named to the presidency of the nation's oldest and largest voluntary reproductive health organization, Ms. Wattleton's vision, leadership and courage projected Planned Parenthood into the forefront of the battle to preserve women's fundamental right to self-determination. Under her leadership, PPFA grew to become the nation’s seventh largest charitable organization, providing medical and educational services to four million Americans each year, through 170 affiliates, operating in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Under Ms. Wattleton’s guidance, PPFA also supported family planning programs in dozens of developing nations through its international division, Family Planning International Assistance.

Ms. Wattleton holds a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from The Ohio State University and a Master of Science degree in maternal and infant care, with certification as a nurse-midwife, from Columbia University. In addition, she has received twelve honorary doctoral degrees; Simmons College (1993), Hofstra University (1992), Haverford College (1992), Meadville Lombard Seminary at the University of Chicago (1992), Bard College (1991), Oberlin College (1991), Wesleyan University (1991), Northeastern University Law School (1990), Long Island University (1990), University of Pennsylvania (1990), Spellman College (1986), and St. Paul's College (1985).

Ms. Wattleton was a 1993 Inductee into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Her memoir, Life on the Line, was published, in the fall of 1996, by Ballantine Books.