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Board Members

 

Bob Joondeph, Chair 

Appointed by the Senate on October 1, 2018 (first term). Reappointed September 25, 2024 (second term).

Bob Joondeph, JD currently serves as Chair of the Social Security Advisory Board and has served as the Executive Director of Disability Rights Oregon for over 30 years, promoting and defending the legal and civil rights of Oregonians with disabilities through legal-based advocacy. Joondeph has represented individuals with disabilities in state and federal courts, agencies and legislatures. Joondeph has served on the Oregon Health Evidence Review Commission, Health Services Commission, Health Fund Board, Mental Health Planning and Management Advisory Council, State Rehabilitation Commission, Governor’s Task Force on Brain Injury, and the Council on Developmental Disabilities. Joondeph is the recipient of the Oregon State Bar Public Service Award, Oregon Disabilities Commission Advocate of the Year Award, Brain Injury Alliance of Oregon Advocacy Award, and the Oregon Civil Rights Leadership Award. Joondeph is a graduate of Case Western Reserve Law School and Brown University.

 

 

 

Jagadeesh Gokhale

Appointed by the Senate on November 19, 2009 (first term). Reappointed October 5, 2015 (second term). Reappointed September 28, 2021 (third term).

Dr. Jagadeesh Gokhale is the Director of Special Projects at the Penn Wharton (“Wharton”) Budget Model. Prior to joining Wharton, Dr. Gokhale was a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. An economist by training, Gokhale’s main research fields are macro and public economics with a special focus on the effects of fiscal policy on future generations. Dr. Gokhale has written extensively on policy issues including Social Security and Medicare reform, national saving, private insurance, financial planning, wealth inequality, generational accounting, and public intergenerational transfers; he has testified before Congress several times on these topics. In 2010 Gokhale published Social Security: A Fresh Look at Policy Alternatives, which constructs a different method for determining solvency of the Social Security trust funds. Dr. Gokhale is published in numerous professional journals, as well as newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, and Forbes.

 

 

 

Amy Shuart

Appointed by the House on October 7, 2022.

Amy Shuart has over 15 years of experience in Social Security, identity, and technology policy.  Shuart is currently the Vice President, Technology & Innovation at Business Roundtable.  She previously was the Head of North America Government Affairs for Onfido, a global digital identity company, where she launched their Washington office.  For over a decade, Shuart worked for the Committee on Ways and Means, most recently as the Social Security Subcommittee Staff Director. Shuart started her career as a Presidential Management Fellow at the Social Security Administration in the Office of Retirement Policy and has also worked at the Office of Management and Budget in the Medicare Branch and the White House National Economic Council. Shuart holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelors of Arts in Public and Urban Affairs from Virginia Tech, and a Master of Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

 

 

 

Nancy Altman

Appointed by the House on September 26, 2017 (first term). Reappointed March 1, 2018 (second term). Reappointed June 21, 2024 (third term).

Nancy Altman, JD, has a 50-year background in Social Security and private pensions. She is the current President of Social Security Works and Chair of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition. Altman was on the faculty of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and taught courses on private pensions and Social Security at the Harvard Law School. In 1982, Altman was Alan Greenspan’s assistant in his position as Chair of the bipartisan commission that largely developed the 1983 Social Security amendments. She is the author of The Truth About Social Security, The Battle for Social Security and co-author of Social Security Works! Why Social Security Isn’t Going Broke and How Expanding It Will Help Us All. Altman has an AB from Harvard University and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

 

 

 

 

Pending Nominations in the 118th Congress

On January 3, 2023, President Joe Biden nominated Andrew G. Biggs (PN22) and Sharon Beth Lewis (PN23) to serve on the Board. Biggs was nominated for a first term until September 30, 2024, and a second term until September 30, 2030. Lewis was nominated for a term until September 30, 2028.

On January 23, 2023, President Biden nominated Kate Lang (PN 121) for a term through September 30, 2026.

All nominations are pending Senate confirmation. On January 31, 2024, the Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing to consider their nominations.

 

Former Board Members

Note: Board Chair dates are approximate

Democratic Senate Appointments

Lori Hansen (10/94 – 09/00)

  • Appointed August 19, 1994
  • Policy Analyst at the National Academy of Social Insurance
  • Former Technical Assistant to Social Security Administrator Robert Ball

David Podoff (10/00 – 09/06)

  • Appointed October 4, 2000
  • Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and Finance at the Baruch College of the City University of New York
  • Former Minority Staff Director and Chief Economist for the Senate Committee on Finance

Marsha Katz (11/06 – 09/12; Acting Chair 2011-12)

  • Appointed November 14, 2006
  • Project Director at the University of Montana Rural Institute in Missoula
  • Former Vice President of the Association for Community Advocacy in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Bernadette Franks-Ongoy (01/13-09/18)

  • Appointed January 24, 2013
  • Executive Director of Disability Rights Montana
  • Former President of the National Disability Rights Network

Republican Senate Appointments

Carolyn Weaver (10/94 – 09/97)

  • Appointed September 26, 1994
  • Resident Scholar and Director of the Social Security and Pension Project at the American Enterprise Institute
  • Former Senior Advisor to the 1983 National Commission on Social Security Reform

Sylvester Schieber (01/98 – 09/09; Chair 2006-09)

  • Appointed January 27, 1998 (first term); Reappointed October 2, 2003 (second term)
  • Director of the Research and Information Center at Watson Wyatt Worldwide
  • Former Director of Research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute

Democratic House Appointments

Martha Keys (11/94 – 09/05)

  • Appointed November 29, 1994 (first term); Reappointed September 30, 1999 (second term)
  • Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 2nd District of Kansas
  • Former Special Advisor to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare and Assistant Secretary of Education

Barbara Kennelly (01/06 – 09/17; Chair 2009-11; Chair 2012-14)

  • Appointed January 18, 2006 (first term). Reappointed March 1, 2012 (second term)
  • Former President, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
  • Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1st District of Connecticut

Republican House Appointments

Arthur “Pete” Singleton (11/94 – 10/96)

  • Appointed November 29, 1994
  • Resigned after appointment to Chief of Staff for the Ways and
  • Means Committee
  • Staff member of the Ways and Means Committee
  • Served as a Marine in World War II

Jo Anne Barnhart (03/97 – 11/01)

  • Appointed March 12, 1997 (first term); Reappointed October 9, 1998 (second term)
  • Political and public policy consultant to state and local governments on welfare and social services
  • Former Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services

Dorcas R. Hardy (04/02-09/16)

  • Appointed April 9, 2002 (first term); reappointed November reappointed September 29, 16, 2004 (second term); 2010 (third term)
  • President of D.R. Hardy & Associates
  • Former Social Security Administration Commissioner from 1986 to 1989

Kim Hildred (09/16-09/22; Chair 2017-21)

  • Appointed by the House on September 27, 2016
  • President of Hildred Consulting, LLC.
  • Former Staff Director of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security in the US House of Representatives

Presidential Appointments

Harlan Mathews (01/96 – 10/97; Acting Chair 1996-97)

  • Appointed during Senate recess January 26, 1996
  • Resigned October 1997
  • Former U.S. Senator representing Tennessee
  • Previously Secretary of the Cabinet for Tennessee Governor Ned McWherter and Tenneessee’s State Treasurer

Gerald Shea (01/96 – 11/97; 10/00 – 09/04)

Bearded gentleman with eyeglasses next to American flag

  • Appointed during Senate recess January 26, 1996 (first term); Nominated October 11, 2000 and confirmed October 24, 2000 (second term)
  • Assistant to the president for Government Affairs at the AFL-CIO
  • Serves as a public representative on the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations
  • Founding Board member of the Foundation for Accountability

William Brooks (01/96 – 09/96)

  • Appointed during Senate recess January 26, 1996
  • Director and Chairman of the Compensation Committee at the United American Healthcare Corporation
  • Former Trust Manager at the United Investors Realty Trust

Stanford Ross (09/97 – 09/02; Chair 1997-02)

  • Nominated September 23, 1997 and confirmed October 30, 1997
  • Partner at law firm of Arnold & Porter LLP
  • Former Commissioner of Social Security and Public Trustee of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds

Mark Weinberger (10/00 – 05/01)

  • Nominated October 11, 2000 and confirmed October 24, 2000
  • Resigned after appointment to Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy
  • Former Director of the U.S. National Tax Practice for Ernst & Young LLP

Hal Daub (01/02 – 09/06; Chair 2002-06)

  • Nominated November 15, 2001 and confirmed January 25, 2002
  • Former member U.S. House of Representatives representing the 2nd District of Nebraska
  • Partner with the law firm Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin
  • Former Mayor of Omaha, Nebraska

Bradley Belt (12/03 – 04/04)

  • Appointed during Senate recess November 4, 2003 and withdrawn from Senate consideration April 26, 2004
  • Resigned after appointment to Executive Director of the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation
  • Former President of the Washington Capital Group, Inc.

Jeffrey Brown (10/06-09/08)

  • Nominated December 14, 2005 and confirmed December 8, 2006
  • Professor in the Department of Finance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Former Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government

Dana Bilyeu (12/06 – 09/10)

  • Nominated December 5, 2006 and confirmed December 8, 2006
  • Executive Officer of the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Nevada
  • Serves on the Public Employee Advisory Board for the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

Mark Warshawsky (12/06 – 09/12)

  • Nominated December 5, 2006 and confirmed December 8, 2006
  • Director of Retirement Research at Watson Wyatt Worldwide
  • Member, Advisory Board of the Pension Research Council of the Wharton School

Alan L. Cohen (09/14 – 09/16)

  • Nominated September 30, 2013 and confirmed September 8, 2014
  • Previously served as Senior Budget Advisor and Chief Counselor for Social Security for the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance from 2001-2012

Lanhee Chen (09/14 – 09/18)

  • Nominated on September 30, 2013 and confirmed on September 8, 2014
  • Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution
  • Director of Domestic Policy Studies and Lecturer in the Public Policy Program at Stanford University
  • Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School

Henry J. Aaron (09/14 – 09/20; Chair 2014-17)

  • NominHeadshot of Mr. Aaron, older gentleman with short white hair, in suit and tieated on January 6, 2014 and confirmed on September 8, 2014
  • Bruce and Virginia Mac-Laury Chair and Senior Fellow in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution
  • Previously taught at the University of Maryland and at Harvard University.
  • Vice-Chair of the District of Columbia Health Benefits Exchange, a Member of the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research Advisory Board, and the Board of Directors of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
  • A founding member, Vice-President, and Board Chair of the National Academy of Social Insurance.