Transition Economic Advisory Board

Bonior (b. 1945) is former Democratic Congressman from Michigan (November 1976 – January 1995). Bonior led the Democratic opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement. After leaving Congress, Bonier became a professor of labor studies at Wayne State University. He also served as John Edwards’s 2008 presidential campaign manager. In 2002, he unsuccessfully ran for governor; Granholm won the Democratic nomination and the state house.

Buffett (b. 1930) is a billionaire investor and the largest shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Forbes magazine ranked him as the richest man in the world during the first half of 2008; his estimated net worth at that time was $62.0 billion. Buffett made headlines in 2006 when he announced a plan to give away his fortune to charity, most of it earmarked for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Buffett favors the inheritance tax, is concerned about the national debt, and that the world's oil production has peaked. He endorsed Obama over Republican Sen. John McCain.

Buffett warned of credit risks and derivatives as early as 2003.

Campos (b. 1949) served two terms as a Securities and Exchange Commissioner in the Bush Administration (2002-07). For four years he was the Commission’s liaison to the international regulatory community. He advocated for the convergence of standards and for regulation that promotes cross-border transactions.

Prior to being nominated to the Commission, Campos was one of two principal owner-executives of El Dorado Communications, a radio broadcasting company headquartered in Houston.

A Harvard Law School graduate, Campos earned a Bachelor of Science from the United States Air Force Academy. He is currently a partner with the Washington, D.C. law firm Cooley Godward Kronish.

Since 2004, Daley (b. 1938) has served as Midwest Chairman of JP Morgan Chase & Co. He also sits on the Council on Foreign Relations.

Prior to joining JP Morgan, Daley was President of SBC Communications, Inc. He was Commerce Secretary in the Clinton Administration (January 1997-July 2000), resigning to serve as chair of Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign (June-December 2000). In 1993, he advised Clinton on NAFTA. In the 1990s, Daley was president and chief operating officer of Amalgamated Bank of Chicago.

Daley is a graduate of Loyola University in Chicago and of John Marshall Law School. His brother is the mayor of Chicago. Daley was a national Obama campaign co-chair.

Donaldson (b. 1931) was the 27th Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), serving from February 2003 to June 2005. Donaldson was Under Secretary of State in the Nixon Administration and a special adviser to Vice President Nelson Rockefeller.

Donaldson was chair of the SEC when it released Wall Street investment firms from capital reserves. See SEC Lifted Debt Limit For Brokerages In 2004.

Donaldson founded the Yale School of Management, serving as dean and professor of management studies. A Marine, Donaldson is a graduate of Yale and a member of its Skull and Bones secret society.

Ferguson (b. 1951) is a former vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. In 1997, President Clinton nominated him to fill an unexpired term ending January 2000. Subsequently, Ferguson was sworn in to a 14-year term. After being passed over for chairman in 2005 (President Bush appointed Ben Bernanke to replace Alan Greenspan), Ferguson offered his resignation in February 2006.

In 2003, Ferguson became Chairman of the Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS), a central bank panel that monitors and examines broad issues related to financial markets and systems. He is currently CEO of TIAA-CREF, a private financial services company. He holds a PhD in economics from Harvard.

Granholm (born 1959 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) was elected Governor of Michigan in 2002 and became the first woman to hold that office. She was easily re-elected in 2006 (despite a 7 percent unemployment rate). Facing budget shortfalls, Michigan's credit rating was downgraded from AA to AA- in 2007. In August 2008, her approval rating was 37 percent

In the 2002 gubernatorial race, she defeated Bonior for the Democratic nomination. In the first Bush Administration, Granholm became an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. In 1980, she became a U.S. citizen and worked for John Anderson's campaign for the presidency. She holds a law degree from Harvard and two Bachelor of Arts degrees from Berkeley.

Mulcahy (b. 1952) is chair and CEO of Xerox Corp., Stamford, CT. She is a career employee, joining the company in 1976. Time says she is credited with turning the company around. In June 2008, she became the first woman to be named by her peers as Chief Executive of the Year; Forbes puts her 10th on its list of the 100 most powerful women.

In 2001, when she was named the company's first woman CEO, the stock dropped 15 percent. From 1992-1995, Mulcahy was vice president for human resources. She was president and chief operating officer of Xerox from May 2000 through July 2001. Mulcahy earned a bachelor of arts degree in English/journalism from Marymount College in Tarrytown, N.Y.

Since 2003, Parsons (b. 1948) has been chairman of the board of Time Warner; he is also a Citigroup board member. From May 2002 to December 2007 he was Time Warner CEO; he joined the company as President in February 1995 and helped negotiate the 2000 merger with America Online. Prior to Time Warner, Parsons was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NYC-based Dime Bancorp; it was acquired by Washington Mutual in 2001.

In 2001, Parsons co-chaired a commission on Social Security. Parsons followed NY Governor Nelson Rockefeller to D.C. in 1974, working in the Ford Administration. He and Rudy Giuliani were with the same NYC law firm. A graduate of the University of Hawaii, Parsons received a law degree from Albany Law School.

Pritzker (b. 1959) is part of one of America's wealthiest families; she is estimated to be the 135th on the Forbes 400 list of "America's wealthiest" with an approximate net worth of $2.8 billion. Her grandfather Abram Nicholas Pritzker founded Hyatt hotels. She is the founder and CEO of Classic Residence by Hyatt, a chain of luxury senior living communities.

Pritzker was chair of Superior Bank of Chicago in 1991; she remained on the board after stepping down in 1994. The thrift collapsed in 2001. Pritzker is chair of the Chicago Public Education Fund, the successor to the Chicago Annenberg Challenge; she was Obama's National Finance Chair.

Pritzker holds a BA in Economics from Harvard and a JD/MBA from Stanford.