Robert E. Rubin

Co-Chairman; Former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury

Mr. Rubin began his career in finance at Goldman, Sachs & Company in New York City in 1966. Mr. Rubin served as Vice-Chairman and co-chief operating officer from 1987-1990 and as co-senior partner and co-chairman from 1990-1992. Before joining Goldman, he was an attorney at the firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in New York City from 1964 to 1966.

Long active in public affairs, Mr. Rubin joined the Clinton administration in 1993 as assistant to the president for economic policy and as director of the newly created National Economic Council. At the NEC, he coordinated economic policy recommendations to the president and monitored the implementation of the president's economic policy goals.

In January 1995, Mr. Rubin was appointed as the seventieth secretary of the Treasury of the United States. He served for four and a half years until July 1999, where he was involved in balancing the federal budget; opening trade policy to further globalization; acting to stem financial crises in Mexico, Asia and Russia; helping to resolve the impasse over the public debt limit; and guiding sensible reforms at the Internal Revenue Service.

From 1999 to 2009, Mr. Rubin served as a member of the board of directors at Citigroup and as a senior adviser to the company. In addition, he worked extensively with the firm's clients around the world.

In 2005, Mr. Rubin was one of the founders of the Hamilton Project, an economic policy project housed at the Brookings Institution that offers a strategic vision and innovative policy proposals on how to create a growing economy that benefits more Americans.

Mr. Rubin is the author of In An Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington (Random House, 2003, with Jacob Weisberg), which was a New York Times bestseller and named one of Business Week's ten best business books of the year.

Mr. Rubin joined Centerview Partners in 2010 as a counselor of the firm. In his role at Centerview, he serves as a sounding board and adviser to clients across the firm's various activities, bringing years of experience in finance and public policy.

Mr. Rubin is co-chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a member of the Harvard Corporation, a member of the board of trustees of Mount Sinai Medical Center, and chairman of the board of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), which is the nation's leading community development support organization with thirty-eight offices nationwide.

Mr. Rubin graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College in 1960 with an AB in economics. He received a LLB from Yale Law School in 1964 and attended the London School of Economics. He has received honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Columbia and other universities. He was born in New York City in 1938 and is married to Judith Oxenberg Rubin, who served as the New York City commissioner of protocol for four years under Mayor David Dinkins. The Rubins have two adult sons, James and Philip.

Past Research Project

Publications

Audio

The Global Energy Landscape (Audio)

Speakers: Carlos B. Pascual and Daniel H. Yergin
Introductory Speaker: Robert E. Rubin
Presider: Ed Crooks

Experts discuss the energy demands of emerging economies, as well as the stability of oil supply.

This meeting is the first in a series of global partnership meetings with the Financial Times.

See more in Energy/Environment

Video

The Global Energy Landscape (Video)

Speakers: Carlos B. Pascual and Daniel H. Yergin
Introductory Speaker: Robert E. Rubin
Presider: Ed Crooks

Experts discuss the energy demands of emerging economies, as well as the stability of oil supply.

This meeting is the first in a series of global partnership meetings with the Financial Times.

See more in Energy/Environment

Video

Spence: Emerging Market Investment Boom Ahead

Interviewer: Robert E. Rubin
Interviewee: A. Michael Spence

Economist A. Michael Spence says emerging market growth is going to produce a boom in investment, which in turn may lead to higher interest rates globally, and a tendency to intervene in international capital flows. Spence spoke to Robert Rubin, Former Treasury Secretary and Co-Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, at CFR's 2011 Corporate Conference.

See more in Economics, Emerging Markets, Geoeconomics, Industrial Policy, International Finance

Video

Pandemic Influenza: Science, Economics, and Foreign Policy: Session Two: The Economics (Video)

Speakers: Yanzhong Huang, Andrew Jack and Michael T. Osterholm
Presider: Robert E. Rubin

Watch experts analyze the economic effects of pandemic influenza including on the labor force and trade.

This session was part of a CFR symposium, Pandemic Influenza: Science, Economics, and Foreign Policy, which was cosponsored with Science Magazine.

See more in Economics, Health and Disease

Audio

Pandemic Influenza: Science, Economics, and Foreign Policy: Session Two: The Economics (Audio)

Speakers: Yanzhong Huang, Andrew Jack and Michael T. Osterholm
Presider: Robert E. Rubin

Listen to experts analyze the economic effects of pandemic influenza including on the labor force and trade.

This session was part of a CFR symposium, Pandemic Influenza: Science, Economics, and Foreign Policy, which was cosponsored with Science Magazine.

See more in Economics, Public Health Threats

Audio

The 1920s: Bubble, Growth, or Gold? (Audio)

Speakers: Michael Bordo, Edward C. Prescott, Benn Steil and Richard Sylla
Introductory Speaker: Richard N. Haass
Presider: Robert E. Rubin

Listen to experts give a historical analysis of the 1920s and the causes of the Great Depression, including monetary policy and the stock market crash in 1929.

This session was part of the CFR-New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business symposium: A Second Look at the Great Depression, which was made possible through the generous support of the Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

See more in Economics, Financial Crises

Video

The 1920s: Bubble, Growth, or Gold? (Video)

Speakers: Michael Bordo, Edward C. Prescott, Benn Steil and Richard Sylla
Introductory Speaker: Richard N. Haass
Presider: Robert E. Rubin

Watch experts give a historical analysis of the 1920s and the causes of the Great Depression, including monetary policy and the stock market crash in 1929.

This session was part of the CFR-New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business symposium: A Second Look at the Great Depression, which was made possible through the generous support of the Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

See more in Economics, Financial Crises