Sarah Bloom Raskin

Sarah Bloom Raskin (born April 15, 1961) is an American attorney and regulator, who was formerly a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and a former United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. Previously, she served as Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation and as a Managing Director at the Promontory Financial Group.[1] She is a Rubenstein Fellow at Duke University.

Sarah Bloom Raskin
United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
In office March 19, 2014 – January 20, 2017
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Mary J. Miller (acting) Neal S. Wolin
Succeeded by	Justin Muzinich
Member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
In office October 4, 2010 – March 13, 2014
Appointed by	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Donald Kohn
Succeeded by	Christopher Waller
Personal details
Born	Sarah Bloom April 15, 1961 Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Jamie Raskin
Children	3[lower-alpha 1]
Education	Amherst College (BA) Harvard University (JD)

Early life and education

Bloom Raskin was born to a Jewish family in Medford, Massachusetts, the daughter of Arlene (née Perlis) and Herbert Bloom.[2][3][4] She attended Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Flossmoor, Illinois, where she graduated in 1979.[5] Afterwards, she went on to Amherst College where she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in economics in 1983, and wrote her undergraduate thesis on monetary policy. She received her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1986. Raskin was honored with an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Muhlenberg College on May 19th, 2019.[6]

Career

Raskin worked as an associate at Arnold & Porter and as counsel for the U.S. Senate Banking Committee.[7] Prior to serving as Commissioner, she was a Managing Director at the Promontory Financial Group. Raskin also served as chief financial regulator for Maryland.[8]

President Obama nominated Raskin to the Federal Reserve Board along with fellow nominees Dr. Janet Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics professor Peter A. Diamond.[5] Raskin and Yellen were unanimously confirmed as Federal Reserve Board governors by the United States Senate on September 30, 2010.[9] On October 4, 2010, both were sworn in by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.[10] As a member of the Federal Reserve Board, Raskin gained a reputation as someone focused on consumer protection and income inequality.[8]

On July 31, 2013, President Barack Obama announced that he would nominate Raskin to the second-in-command position of Deputy Secretary at the United States Department of the Treasury.[11] She was confirmed to the position on March 12, 2014 by a voice vote.[12] Upon confirmation, Raskin became the highest-ranked woman in the history of the Treasury Department.[8] Raskin was sworn in on March 19, 2014.[13] Upon her confirmation as Deputy Secretary she resigned as a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on March 13, 2014.[14]

During the 2017–18 academic year, Raskin is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. During the 2018-19, 2019-2020 academic years, Raskin is a Rubenstein Fellow at Duke University. As a Rubenstein Fellow, the Honorable Sarah Bloom Raskin works closely with the Rethinking Regulation program at Duke’s Kenan Institute for Ethics and with the Global Financial Markets Center at Duke Law School to improve the public’s understanding of markets and regulation. In particular, she leads a research agenda that seeks to shape a new relationship between regulation and resilience in financial markets; and explores opportunities to harness cyber-data and turn it into a public asset rather than a liability.

In November 2020, Bloom Raskin was reported to be under consideration for Secretary of the Treasury in the Biden Administration.[15]

Personal life

Raskin is married to Jamie Raskin, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 8th congressional district,[16] and as of 2006 lived in Takoma Park, Maryland.[17]

Raskin and her husband have two adult daughters, Hannah and Tabitha. On December 31, 2020, Raskin's office announced that their son Thomas (Tommy), a graduate of Amherst College and a second-year student at Harvard Law School, died at the age of 25.[18] On January 4, 2021, Raskin and her husband posted a tribute online which stated that Thomas had died by suicide after a prolonged battle with depression.[19][20]

Notes

1. One child is deceased.

References

1. "Sarah Bloom Raskin". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
2. Marquis Who's Who (1 December 1996). Who's Who of American Women, 1997–1998. Marquis Who's Who. ISBN 9780837904221. Retrieved 10 December 2018 – via Google Books.
3. "Jewish Insider's Daily Kickoff: April 13, 2018". Haaretz. April 13, 2018.
4. "Herbert Bloom, 87". Westport Now. March 26, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
5. Reddy, Sudeep (April 29, 2010), "Obama Nominates Yellen, Raskin, Diamond to Fed Board", Wall Street Journal
6. "Post". M.muhlenberg.edu. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
7. Chan, Sewell (12 March 2010). "Top Choices Are Floated to Fill Seats on Fed Board". Retrieved 10 December 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
8. Mui, Ylan (12 March 2014). "Senate confirms Fed governor for No. 2 post at Treasury". Washington Post. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
9. Business news in brief Two confirmed to Fed board; BP updates safety practices; earnings reports KansasCity.com, September 29, 2010 (October 9, 2010)
10. Fed Press Release federalreserve.gov, October 4, 2010 (October 9, 2010)
11. Ylan Q. Mui, Wash. Post, Fed’s Raskin is chosen for deputy Treasury secretary, July 31, 2013.
12. "United States Senate Periodical Press Gallery". United States Senate. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
13. "Sarah Bloom Raskin Sworn in as Deputy Secretary". Press Center. United States Department of the Treasury. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
14. "Membership of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 1914–Present". Appointive Members. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
15. "Who Are Contenders for Biden's Cabinet?". The New York Times. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
16. "Congressman-elect Jamie Raskin resigns Maryland Senate seat". The Washington Post. 2016-11-11. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
17. Friends of Jamin Raskin (2006). "Biography". Jamie Raskin for State Senate campaign web site. Archived from the original on August 27, 2006. Retrieved May 4, 2006.
18. Flynn, Meagan (December 31, 2020). "Rep. Jamie Raskin announces the death of his 25-year-old son". Washington Post. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
19. Lapin, Tamar (2021-01-05). "Rep. Jamie Raskin, wife say son lost battle with depression in heart-wrenching tribute". New York Post. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
20. Raskin, Rep Jamie (2021-01-04). "Statement of Congressman Jamie Raskin and Sarah Bloom Raskin on the Remarkable Life of Tommy Raskin". Medium. Retrieved 2021-01-07.

External links

• U.S. Department of the Treasury biography – dead link
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• The Next Elizabeth Warren?