Edgar Elgar Publishing

Jacob J. Lew
Professor of International and Public Affairs

Personal Details
Jack Lew returned to SIPA after serving as United States Ambassador to Israel in the Biden Administration. Previously he served as the 76th Secretary of the Treasury and White House Chief of Staff in the Obama Administration. Earlier under President Obama he served as Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources and Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), a position he also held in President Clinton's cabinet when the U.S. budget operated at a surplus for three consecutive years. Lew started his White House service in the Clinton Administration as Special Assistant to the President. In that position he played a lead role in designing Americorps, the national service program, and worked on health care reform with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.
In the private sector Lew served as managing director and chief operating officer for two different Citigroup business units. Prior to that, he was executive vice president and chief operating officer of New York University, where he was responsible for budget, finance, and operations, and served as a professor of public administration. He has served on numerous public and non-profit boards, including the Corporation for National and Community Service, where he chaired its Management, Administration, and Governance Committee.
Lew began his career in Washington in 1973 as a legislative aide. From 1979 to 1987, he was a principal domestic policy advisor to House Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., when he served the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee as Assistant Director and then Executive Director. He was the Speaker's liaison to the Greenspan Commission, which negotiated a bipartisan solution to extend the solvency of Social Security in 1983, and was responsible for domestic and economic issues, including Medicare, budget, tax, trade, appropriations, and energy issues.
He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science, the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Academy of Social Insurance, and of the bar in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
Education
- AB, Harvard University, Magna cum laude
- JD, Georgetown University Law Center
Research And Publications
Council on Foreign Relations
In The Media
Wilfred Frost speaks to the Fmr US Treasury Sec Jack Lew about President Trump's economic agenda and reflects on how he helped President Clinton balance the budget in the 90s in light of Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" making its way through Congress.
Former Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew discusses the 'big, beautiful bill' deadline on 'The Claman Countdown.'
Jacob Lew, Columbia University professor and former Treasury Secretary under President Obama, joins ‘Squawk Box’ to discuss the state of the economy, impact of the tax bill on the national debt, how to reduce the deficit, and more.
Former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew says the US Senate must step up to the challenge of fixing the House budget reconciliation bill to avoid long-lasting fiscal and social damage.
Every May, SIPA faculty recommend their best reads of the year, which range from policy tomes to collections of poetry.