Michael S. Piwowar, PhD, is the executive vice president of Milken
Institute Finance. 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.
