As we launch our 2017-18 academic year, there have been a number of exciting developments at the Ford School. At the top of the list is the naming of our new dean this summer. Our previous dean, Susan Collins, reached the end of her term as dean this past year and is on a well deserved sabbatical. Michael Barr joined the Ford School as dean on August 1st, although he has been a member of our faculty for some time. His primary appointment at the University of Michigan was as the Roy F. and Jean Humphrey Profitt Professor of Law at the Law School. In addition to his distinguished teaching career, Michael brings with him a wealth of policy experience.
Mostly recently, Michael worked in the Department of Treasury as assistant secretary for financial institutions in 2009-2010. In that position, he was a key architect of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. Barr played a central role in the development of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and in policies to expand access to capital for small businesses and community development.
Prior to joining the Law School faculty in 2001, Michael served in a number of roles in DC, including serving as a member of the policy planning staff of the U.S. Department of State and at the U.S. Department of Treasury where he was a special assistant to Secretary Robert E. Rubin before moving into the position of deputy assistant secretary of the treasury for community development policy, a role in which he served from 1997-2001. He concurrently served as special advisor to President William J. Clinton, from 1999-2001.
Since returning to campus, Michael has etablished and directed a new interdisciplinary Center on Finance, Law and Policy, bringing together faculty from across the university on projects designed to help make the financial system safer, fairer and better harnessed to the needs of the real economy.
We are delighted to have Michael serving as our dean and look forward to the new activities and traditions that he will bring to our community.