President Barack Obama ’91 has nominated Joshua Gotbaum ’78 to head the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
This government-sponsored corporation is responsible for financially backing up the pensions of more than 44 million Americans. The agency reported in May a deficit of $33.5 billion, triple that of six months earlier, as it took over pension plans of companies that failed or faltered in the recession.
Gotbaum, currently an operating partner at the private equity firm Blue Wolf Capital, is an expert in investment banking, accounting, and restructuring. He led the Chapter 11 restructuring of Hawaiian Airlines and also served as a long-time investment banker with Lazard Freres.
He served in the Clinton administration as controller of the Office of Management and Budget, assistant secretary of the Treasury for economic policy and assistant secretary of Defense. Gotbaum also was head of the September 11th Fund, the charity that helped 9/11 victims and their families.
In addition to his J.D., Gotbaum received an A.B. from Stanford University in 1973 and a master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government in 1978.