By Darlene Bremer

Debra A. Cafaro

DEBRA CAFARO JOINED Ventas, Inc. as chief executive officer and president in March 1999. Cafaro was appointed chairman in January 2003. From April 1997 to May 1998, she served as president and a director of Ambassador Apartments, Inc. (NYSE: AAH). Cafaro was a founding member of the Chicago-based law firm Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum Perlman & Nagelberg, specializing in real estate, finance and corporate transactions. From 1988 to 1992, Cafaro served as an adjunct professor of law at Northwestern University Law School. She is currently a member of NAREIT’s Board of Governors.

Cafaro earned her B.A. in government at the University of Notre Dame and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. She is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Pennsylvania.