Neal S. Wolin

Neal Steven Wolin is an American attorney who served as the United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury for nearly five years and briefly as Acting Secretary in early 2013. Born on December 9, 1961, he has spent his career at the intersection of law, finance, and public policy, contributing to major federal initiatives during the Great Recession and later holding senior positions in private advisory firms.

Early life and career

Wolin was raised in Evanston, Illinois, where he completed high school in 1979. His parents were a lawyer and a former public‑school teacher, respectively. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from Yale University, graduating summa cum laude and serving as president of the Yale Political Union. After Yale, Wolin pursued graduate studies at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was awarded a Charles and Julia Henry Fellowship and obtained a Master of Science in Development Economics. He returned to Yale for his Juris Doctor degree, during which time he worked as a Coker Teaching Fellow in Constitutional Law.

Following law school, Wolin clerked for U.S. District Judge Eugene Nickerson in Brooklyn, New York, and taught as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School. He also practiced with the Washington, D.C., firm Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. From 1990 to 1993 he served as Special Assistant to three Directors of Central Intelligence—William H. Webster, Robert Gates, and R. James Woolsey Jr.—providing legal support in national security matters.

During the Clinton administration, Wolin held several key Treasury positions. He began as Deputy Legal Advisor to the National Security Council (1993–1994) before becoming executive assistant to National Security Advisor Anthony Lake and Deputy National Security Advisor Sandy Berger. In 1995 he was appointed Deputy General Counsel of the Department of the Treasury under Secretary Robert Rubin, a role he held until 1999; for part of that year he also served as Acting General Counsel. Wolin’s tenure continued with his appointment as General Counsel of the Treasury in September 1999, serving under Secretary Lawrence Summers until January 2001. In recognition of his service, Secretary Summers presented him with the Alexander Hamilton Award, the department’s highest honor.

During early 2001, Wolin was a visiting fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution and an adjunct assistant professor at Harvard Kennedy School. He also joined The Hartford Financial Services Group that March as executive vice‑president and general counsel, overseeing legal, tax, government affairs, communications, and marketing functions. In 2007 he advanced to president and chief operating officer of the company’s property and casualty insurance subsidiaries.

Cabinet tenure

In February 2009, shortly after President Barack Obama assumed office, Wolin returned to Washington as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel for Economic Policy. The following month he was nominated by the President to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. The Senate confirmed him on May 18, 2009. As Deputy Secretary, Wolin led the federal financial reform agenda during the Great Recession, playing a central role in the development and implementation of the Dodd‑Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The legislation was designed to strengthen the financial system by closing regulatory gaps, increasing consumer transparency, and imposing prudential requirements such as an annual stress test conducted by the Federal Reserve on 33 banks deemed “systemically important” to the U.S. economy.

From early 2009 until late 2013, Wolin chaired the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews transactions that could give foreign entities control over U.S. assets for national‑security reasons. In July 2011 he was appointed to the Government Accountability and Transparency Board. He served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from January 25 to February 28, 2013, following the departure of Secretary Timothy Geithner and preceding the confirmation of Jack Lew.

In January 2013 Wolin received a second Alexander Hamilton Award, this time presented by Secretary Geithner. On July 22, 2013 President Obama announced that Wolin would retire from his position as Deputy Secretary at the end of August, citing his contributions to preventing a repeat of the Great Depression and strengthening the financial system.

After leaving the Treasury, Wolin was appointed to the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board in August 2014; he resigned from that post on January 20, 2017. In February 2018 he became chief executive officer of Brunswick Group, a global corporate advisory firm, and later served as vice chairman in 2024.

Legacy

Wolin’s career reflects sustained engagement with the legal and regulatory frameworks that underpin U.S. financial stability. His tenure at the Treasury coincided with the country’s most significant post‑war economic crisis, during which he helped shape reforms aimed at increasing transparency and resilience within the banking sector. The Dodd‑Frank Act, to which he contributed as a key architect, remains a foundational element of contemporary financial regulation.

Beyond his public service, Wolin has maintained active roles in academia and private industry. He serves on the board of trustees for Yale University and on the Board of Overseers at the RAND Institute for Civil Justice. His professional affiliations include membership in the Council on Foreign Relations and admission to the bars of Illinois, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C.

Through his combined public and private sector experience, Wolin has influenced both policy development and corporate governance practices related to finance, law, and national security. His work exemplifies a career dedicated to applying legal expertise within complex institutional contexts to promote economic stability and transparency.