FORA.tv Speaker - Gene B. Sperling

Gene B. Sperling is Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy.  He was appointed by President Barack Obama on January 7, 2011.

Mr. Sperling served as Counselor to the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, Timothy F. Geithner starting in 2009. In that role, Mr. Sperling served as a lead policy advisor for Secretary Geithner on fiscal, budget, tax, job creation and small business issues.

Previously, Mr. Sperling served during the Clinton Administration as the Director of the National Economic Council for four years, from 1997 to 2000, and as the Deputy Director of the National Economic Council from 1993 to 1996. In these positions, Mr. Sperling played a lead role in the 1993 Deficit Reduction Act and was a key negotiator for the 1997 bipartisan Balanced Budget Agreement.

In addition to his economic work, Mr. Sperling has specialized on education in poor and conflict-affected nations. He was the founder and Director of the Center for Universal Education at the Council on Foreign Relations and co-authored the book What Works in Girls’ Education: Evidence and Policies from the Developing World.  Mr. Sperling was also Senior Fellow for Economic Policy at the Center for American Progress, where he authored The Pro-Growth Progressive: An Economic Strategy for Shared Prosperity. He also served as a part-time consultant on corporate citizenship and economic matters for private sector companies.

Mr. Sperling holds a B.A. from the University of Minnesota and a J.D. from Yale Law School.