Rebecca Blank
Encyclopedia
Rebecca M. Blank is the United States Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs
. She was appointed the Deputy Secretary
of the United States Department of Commerce
on November 1, 2011, a position she has held in an acting
role since October 21, 2011. From July 2011 until October 2011, Rebecca Blank was the Acting United States Secretary of Commerce
. A native of Missouri
, Blank is a summa cum laude graduate in economics from the University of Minnesota and holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution
and dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
at the University of Michigan
(UM), where she implemented a major expansion of its faculty and programs. She also served as co-director of UM’s National Poverty Center. From 1997–1999, Blank was one of three members of President Bill Clinton
’s Council of Economic Advisers
, participating in White House decision-making on a host of economic, social and regulatory policy issues.
Before government service, she was a Professor of Economics at Northwestern University
and Director of the Northwestern University/University of Chicago
Joint Center for Poverty Research. She has also taught at Princeton University
and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
.
's principal economic advisor in her role as Under Secretary for Economic Affairs and head of the Economics and Statistics Administration
(ESA). ESA oversees the two premier statistical agencies in the United States, the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. She also served as Locke's appointed Board Representative to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation.
Since being sworn in at ESA, Blank has played an important role overseeing a decennial Census operation that has completed its work on time and under budget – netting $1.6 billion in 2010 savings. Within ESA, she has supervised a staff of economists and policy analysts who produce a wide variety of reports and forecasts that help develop and assess domestic and international policy.
and on October 21, 2011 he became the 37th Secretary of Commerce. At the same time, Blank was designated the Acting Deputy Secretary of Commerce.
, a Fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, an Eleanor Roosevelt Fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
,and a Lifetime Associate at the National Academies of Science. She has served in a wide variety of advisory and professional roles, including service on the Boards of Directors of MDRC
, the Economic Policy Institute
, and the Urban Institute
. She was a long-time faculty affiliate of the National Bureau of Economic Research
, vice president of the American Economic Association
, and president of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management
.
) won the Richard A. Lester Award for the Outstanding Book in Labor Economics and Industrial Relations. Among her other recent books are Changing Inequality (University of California Press
, 2011), Insufficient Funds: Savings, Assets, Credit, and Banking Among Low-Income Families (joint with Michael Barr
, Russell Sage Press, 2009), and Is the Market Moral? (Joint with William McGurn
, Brookings Press, 2004.) She is the author of over 100 articles in books and academic journals.
Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs
The Under Secretary for Economic Affairs is a high-ranking official in the United States Department of Commerce that serves as the principal economic adviser to the United States Secretary of Commerce. The Under Secretary is ex officio the Administrator of the Economics and Statistics Administration...
. She was appointed the Deputy Secretary
United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce
The Deputy Secretary of Commerce is a high ranking position within the United States Department of Commerce. It was createdon December 13, 1979 when President Jimmy Carter sent a letter to the U.S. Senate and nominated Luther H. Hodges, Jr., who then currently held the title of Under Secretary of...
of the United States Department of Commerce
United States Department of Commerce
The United States Department of Commerce is the Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. It was originally created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14, 1903...
on November 1, 2011, a position she has held in an acting
Acting (law)
In law, when someone is said to be acting in a position it can mean one of three things.*The position has not yet been formally created.*The person is only occupying the position temporarily, to ensure continuity.*The person does not have a mandate....
role since October 21, 2011. From July 2011 until October 2011, Rebecca Blank was the Acting United States Secretary of Commerce
United States Secretary of Commerce
The United States Secretary of Commerce is the head of the United States Department of Commerce concerned with business and industry; the Department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce"...
. A native of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, Blank is a summa cum laude graduate in economics from the University of Minnesota and holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Prior to the Department of Commerce
Prior to arriving at Commerce, Blank was the Robert S. KerrRobert S. Kerr
Robert Samuel Kerr was an American businessman from Oklahoma. Kerr formed a petroleum company before turning to politics. He served as the 12th Governor of Oklahoma and was elected three times to the United States Senate...
Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
and dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, often referred to as the Ford School, is a leading public policy school in the United States. Founded in 1914 as the Institute of Public Administration, it was named in 1999 after former President Gerald Ford, who was a 1935...
at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
(UM), where she implemented a major expansion of its faculty and programs. She also served as co-director of UM’s National Poverty Center. From 1997–1999, Blank was one of three members of President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
’s Council of Economic Advisers
Council of Economic Advisers
The Council of Economic Advisers is an agency within the Executive Office of the President that advises the President of the United States on economic policy...
, participating in White House decision-making on a host of economic, social and regulatory policy issues.
Before government service, she was a Professor of Economics at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
and Director of the Northwestern University/University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
Joint Center for Poverty Research. She has also taught at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
.
Under Secretary for Economic Affairs and Head of the Economics and Statistics Administration
Blank joined the Commerce Department in June 2009 as Secretary Gary LockeGary Locke
Gary Locke may refer to:*Gary Locke , Chinese American politician; U.S. Secretary of Commerce and former Governor of Washington*Gary Locke *Gary Locke...
's principal economic advisor in her role as Under Secretary for Economic Affairs and head of the Economics and Statistics Administration
Economics and Statistics Administration
The Economics and Statistics Administration is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that produces, analyzes and disseminates national economic and demographic data.Its three primary missions are the following:...
(ESA). ESA oversees the two premier statistical agencies in the United States, the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. She also served as Locke's appointed Board Representative to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation.
Since being sworn in at ESA, Blank has played an important role overseeing a decennial Census operation that has completed its work on time and under budget – netting $1.6 billion in 2010 savings. Within ESA, she has supervised a staff of economists and policy analysts who produce a wide variety of reports and forecasts that help develop and assess domestic and international policy.
Acting Deputy Secretary of Commerce
The U.S. Commerce Department announced that Rebecca Blank would become its Acting Deputy Secretary on November 18, 2010. In that role, she focused on matters of management and policy for the department’s 12 bureaus, functioning as Commerce’s chief operating officer.Acting Secretary of Commerce
Rebecca Blank became the Acting Secretary of Commerce on August 1, 2011, after Secretary Gary Locke became U.S. ambassador to China. President Obama nominated John BrysonJohn Bryson
John E. Bryson is the 37th Secretary of Commerce. The Senate confirmed him by a 74–26 vote on October 20, 2011. He was sworn in on October 21, 2011...
and on October 21, 2011 he became the 37th Secretary of Commerce. At the same time, Blank was designated the Acting Deputy Secretary of Commerce.
Honors and distinctions
Blank is a member of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
, a Fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, an Eleanor Roosevelt Fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
American Academy of Political and Social Science
The American Academy of Political and Social Science was founded in 1889 to promote progress in the social sciences. Sparked by Professor Edmund J. James and drawing from members of the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore College, and Bryn Mawr College, the Academy sought to...
,and a Lifetime Associate at the National Academies of Science. She has served in a wide variety of advisory and professional roles, including service on the Boards of Directors of MDRC
MDRC
MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization dedicated to learning what works to improve programs and policies that affect the poor. It was originally named the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation...
, the Economic Policy Institute
Economic Policy Institute
The Economic Policy Institute is a 501 non-profit, liberal, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair economy...
, and the Urban Institute
Urban Institute
The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that carries out nonpartisan economic and social policy research, collects data, evaluates social programs, educates the public on key domestic issues, and provides advice and technical assistance to developing governments abroad...
. She was a long-time faculty affiliate of the National Bureau of Economic Research
National Bureau of Economic Research
The National Bureau of Economic Research is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community." The NBER is well known for providing start and end...
, vice president of the American Economic Association
American Economic Association
The American Economic Association, or AEA, is a learned society in the field of economics, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It publishes one of the most prestigious academic journals in economics: the American Economic Review...
, and president of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management
Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management
The Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management is an American organization whose focus is improving public policy and management by fostering excellence in research, analysis, and education. APPAM founded the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management in 1981.- External links :* * * *...
.
Publications
Blank is the author of numerous books and articles that focus on the interaction between the macro economy, the labor market, government social policy programs, and the behavior and well-being of low-income families. Her 1997 book, It Takes A Nation: A New Agenda for Fighting Poverty (Princeton University PressPrinceton University Press
-Further reading:* "". Artforum International, 2005.-External links:* * * * *...
) won the Richard A. Lester Award for the Outstanding Book in Labor Economics and Industrial Relations. Among her other recent books are Changing Inequality (University of California Press
University of California Press
University of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
, 2011), Insufficient Funds: Savings, Assets, Credit, and Banking Among Low-Income Families (joint with Michael Barr
Michael Barr
Michael Barr may refer to:* Michael Barr , Australian historian* Michael Barr * Michael Barr * Michael Preston Barr, American pop music composer* Michael Barr -See also:...
, Russell Sage Press, 2009), and Is the Market Moral? (Joint with William McGurn
William McGurn
William McGurn is an American writer. He was the chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush from June 2006 until February 2008, replacing Michael Gerson.-Early life:...
, Brookings Press, 2004.) She is the author of over 100 articles in books and academic journals.