Succeeded by Thomas Perez | Name Seth Harris | |
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Spouse Karen Beth Rosen (m. 1997) Education Cornell University, New York University School of Law, Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations Books Modern Labor Law in the Private and Public Sectors: Cases and Materials Similar People Barack Obama, Hilda Solis, Demetrios Marantis, Neal S Wolin, Phyllis Borzi | ||
U s deputy secretary of labor seth harris lectures at toledo law
Seth D. Harris (born October 12, 1962) was the 11th United States Deputy Secretary of Labor, and served for six months as the Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor and a member of President Barack Obama's Cabinet. Nominated by President Obama in February 2009, Harris was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in May 2009, and became acting Secretary of Labor following the resignation of Hilda Solis in January 2013. Harris was also a member of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation's Board of Directors. Harris stepped down from his post on January 16, 2014. Since leaving the Obama Administration, Harris has been a Distinguished Scholar at Cornell University's School of Industrial & Labor Relations, and Counsel in the Public Policy & Regulation and Employment & Labor practices of Dentons, a global law firm, before establishing his own law office. Harris is also a member of the United Cerebral Palsy Association's Board of Directors.
Contents
- U s deputy secretary of labor seth harris lectures at toledo law
- Seth harris deputy secretary u s dept of labor
- Early life and education
- Prior Labor Department service
- Academic career
- Obama connections
- Personal life
- Articles and books
- References
Seth harris deputy secretary u s dept of labor
Early life and education
His father is the late Dr. Jonathan Harris, a high school teacher and author of young adult non-fiction books. His mother is Martha Harris, a retired high school librarian. Harris’s brother is radio personality Paul Harris. Harris earned a B.S. from the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations in 1983 and was a member of the Quill and Dagger society. He later obtained a J.D. from New York University School of Law where he was editor-in-chief of the Review of Law & Social Change and a member of the Order of the Coif. Harris was a law clerk to Chief Judge Gene Carter of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine and Judge William C. Canby, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
Prior Labor Department service
Harris served as Counselor to the Secretary and in other Labor Department policymaking roles for seven years advising both President Clinton’s first-term Labor Secretary Robert Reich and second-term Secretary Alexis Herman on legal, policy and management issues.
Academic career
For nine years prior to joining the Obama Administration, Harris was a Professor of Law and Director of Labor & Employment Law Programs at New York Law School. Harris’s scholarship focused on the economics of labor and employment law, with a particular emphasis on the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He has also written about the National Labor Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, worker organizing, and employment discrimination laws in general.
Harris served as a Senior Fellow of the Life Without Limits Project of the United Cerebral Palsy Association and a member of Georgetown University Law School’s Workplace Flexibility 2010 National Advisory Commission
Obama connections
Harris served as a member of the Agency Review Working Group of the Obama-Biden Transition Team with responsibility for the federal government’s transportation, labor, and education agencies. Harris also chaired Obama for America’s Labor, Employment and Workplace Policy Committee and Disability Policy Committee. He had served as a member of the Clinton-Gore Transition Team in 1992 and 1993.
Personal life
In 1997, Harris married Karen Beth Rosen, a social worker and psychotherapist. The couple has two sons, Jonathan and Daniel.