Influential Women: A History of Female Congressional Chairs -- Pictures

By Kenneth Chamberlain and Brian Resnick

Updated: July 13, 2012 | 9:27 p.m.
July 13, 2012 | 9:22 p.m.

Although for some, the names of men may most often come to mind when asked to identify members who have run congressional committees, a significant number of committee heads have been women, especially in recent decades.

Below are the 24 women who have run House and Senate committees and select committees since 1923, not including joint committees, according to the Women in Congress website.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.; 112th Congress: Environment and Public Works, and Ethics; 111th Congress: Environment and Public Works (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; 112th and 111th Congresses: Intelligence and Caucus on International Narcotics Control; 110th Congress: Rules (Liz Lynch)

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.; 112th and 111th Congresses: Small Business and Entrepreneurship (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.; 112th Congress: Veterans' Affairs (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; 112th Congress: Agriculture (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.; 111th Congress: Agriculture (Liz Lynch)

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine; 109th and 108th Congresses: Small Business and Entrepreneurship (Richard A. Bloom)

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine; 108th Congress: Government Affairs (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)

Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, R-Kan.; 104th Congress: Labor and Human Resources (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Sen. Hattie Wyatt Caraway, D-Ark.; 73rd-78th Congresses: Committee on Enrolled Bills (AP Photo/William J. Smith)

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.; 112th Congress: Foreign Affairs (Richard A. Bloom)

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.; 111th Congress: Standards of Official Conduct (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y. (left); 111th and 110th Congresses: Rules. (Chet Susslin)

Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y.; 111th and 110th Congresses: Small Business (Liz Lynch)

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio; 110th Congress: Standards of Official Conduct (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)

Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn.; 104th Congress: Standards of Official Conduct (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Rep. Jan Meyers, R-Kan.; 104th Congress: Small Business (Wikimedia Commons)

Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D-Colo.; 102nd Congress: Children, Youth, and Families (AP Photo)

Rep. Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, D-Calif; 94th-95th Congresses: House Beauty Shop (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Rep. Leonor Sullivan, D-Mo.; 93rd-94th Congresses: Merchant Marine and Fisheries (Office of the Clerk, House of Representatives)

Rep. Martha Wright Griffiths, D-Mich.; 90th-93rd Congresses: House Beauty Shop (AP Photo/ John Rous)

Rep. Edith Nourse Rogers, R-Mass.; 80th Congress: Veterans' Affairs (AP Photo/Herbert K. White)

Rep. Caroline O'Day, D-N.Y.; 75th-77th Congress: Election of the President, Vice President, and Representatives in Congress

Rep. Mary T. Norton, D-N.J.; 72nd-74th Congresses: District of Columbia; 75th-79th Congresses: Labor; 77th Congress, Memorials; 81st Congress: House Administration (Office of the Clerk, House of Representatives)

Rep. Mae Ella Nolan, R-Calif.; 67th-68th Congresses: Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Office of the Clerk, House of Representatives)

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