The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives is a most wanted list maintained by
the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI). The list arose
from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director
of the FBI, and William Kinsey Hutchinson, International News Service
(the predecessor of the United Press International) Editor-in-Chief, who
were discussing ways to promote capture of the FBI’s "toughest guys"
and the discussion turned into a published article, which received so
much positive publicity that on March 14, 1950, the FBI officially issued
the list to increase law enforcement’s ability to capture particularly  
dangerous fugitives. Only eight women have appeared on the Ten
Most Wanted list. Ruth Eisemann-Schier was the first in 1968.

J. Edgar Hoover