Michael S. Piwowar, PhD, is the executive vice president of finance at the Milken Institute.
Piwowar served as a commissioner at the US Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) from August 15, 2013, to July 6, 2018. He was first
appointed to the SEC by President Barack Obama and was designated acting
chairman of the commission by President Donald Trump from January 23,
2017, to May 4, 2017. He was previously the Republican chief economist
for the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs under
Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Richard Shelby (R-AL) and served as the
lead Republican economist on the four SEC-related titles of the
Dodd-Frank Act and the JOBS Act. During the financial crisis and its
immediate aftermath, Piwowar served in a one-year fixed-term position at
the White House as a senior economist at the President’s Council of
Economic Advisers in both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama
Administrations. Before joining the White House, Piwowar worked as a
principal at the Securities Litigation and Consulting Group. He received
a BA in foreign service and international politics from the
Pennsylvania State University, an MBA from Georgetown University, and a
PhD in finance from the Pennsylvania State University.