Michael Piwowar, PhD

Michael S. Piwowar, PhD, is a senior advisor at the Milken Institute. He was previously the executive vice president of Milken Institute Finance and 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.  

Piwowar previously served as the Republican chief economist for the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs under Senators Mike Crapo and Richard Shelby and was 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, he held 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 Pennsylvania State University, an MBA from Georgetown University, and a PhD in finance from Pennsylvania State University.