Anne Melissa Milgram (born December 1, 1970) is an American attorney and academic who serves as the Administrator of the

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within th ...

. Milgram was previously the 57th

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

from 2007 to 2010.

Early life and education

Milgram was born on December 1, 1970, in

Perth Amboy, New Jersey Perth Amboy is a city (New Jersey), city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,4 ...

.United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Non-Judicial Nominees: Anne Melissa Milgram
/ref> She grew up in

East Brunswick, New Jersey East Brunswick is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The suburban bedroom community is part of the New York City metropolitan area and is located on the southern shore of the Raritan River, directly adjacent to the city ...

, the daughter of Gail (née Gleason) and William "Bill" Milgram. Her mother was a professor at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

, and her father was an engineer. She has one sister Lynn Milgram Mayer who is a college professor. Milgram served as a congressional page while attending

East Brunswick High School East Brunswick High School is a comprehensive public high school serving students in tenth through twelfth grades in East Brunswick Township, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of East Brunswick Public Schools. ...

. She graduated

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

from Rutgers University, New Brunswick in 1992 with a degree in English and Political Science, where she was also a member of the

Cap and Skull Cap and Skull is a senior-year coeducational honor society at Rutgers University, founded on January 18, 1900. Admission to Cap and Skull is dependent on excellence in academics, athletics, the arts, and public service. The organization considers ...

Senior Honor Society. She earned her

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

in social and political theory from

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

in 1993 and subsequently received her

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

in 1996.Official bio

New Jersey Attorney General The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confir ...

. Accessed September 23, 2008.

Career

Milgram clerked for

United States District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton, from 1996 to 1997. In 1997, she began her career as an

Assistant District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a loc ...

in the

Manhattan District Attorney The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected district attorney for New York County (Manhattan), New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws ...

's Office. Milgram later worked in the Criminal Section of the

Civil Rights Division The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is the institution within the federal government responsible for enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. T ...

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

, where she served as the Special Litigation Counsel for Human Trafficking and led the department's

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

prosecutions. Milgram was counsel to Senator

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...

during his final year in the United States Senate.

Attorney General of New Jersey

Milgram became Acting Attorney General on September 1, 2006, following the resignation of former Attorney General Zulima Farber. From 2007 to 2010, Milgram served as New Jersey's Attorney General. In 2007, Milgram announced a partnership with the U.S.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevent ...

(BATF) to allow New Jersey to trace the sources of illegal firearms through real-time electronic access to BATF's E-Trace system, a national database that lists a firearm's first purchaser, date of purchase, and the retailer from which the gun was purchased. As Attorney General, Milgram directed all police departments in New Jersey to forward all gun tracing information to E-trace to build a New Jersey database.

Other roles

Arnold Foundation

From 2011-2015, Milgram was head of the Criminal Justice Initiative at the

Laura and John Arnold Foundation Arnold Ventures LLC (formerly known as The Laura and John Arnold Foundation) is focused on evidence-based giving in a wide range of categories including: criminal justice, education, health care, and public finance. The organization was founded by ...

. She led the creation, development and national implementation of a new pretrial risk assessment tool to provide judges with more information for when they decide whether to release or jail people who have been arrested.

''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''

From 2013 to 2021, Milgram served as one of

Wolf Entertainment Wolf Entertainment is an American television production company founded in 1988 by producer Dick Wolf, known for its television franchises ''Law & Order'', '' Chicago'', and '' FBI''. In February 2020, Wolf Entertainment signed one of the la ...

's legal advisors, consulting on the hit television series '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. In this role, she worked with the show's writers, producers, and actors to help portray the courtroom and the country's legal system as accurately as possible.

Lowenstein Sandler

In July 2017, Milgram joined the law firm of Lowenstein Sandler as special counsel in the Tech Group and White Collar Criminal Defense practice.

Academic career

Milgram was a Professor of Practice and Distinguished Scholar in Residence at New York University School of Law. In 2020, as part of her work with the Criminal Justice Lab at New York University School of Law, Milgram worked with the city of

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration

On April 22, 2021, President Joe Biden formally nominated Milgram to be Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration On May 26, 2021, a hearing on her nomination was held before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

.United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nominations for May 26, 2021
/ref> She was confirmed by the US Senate by Unanimous Consent on June 24, 2021, and she was sworn in on June 28 by

US Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

Merrick B. Garland.

Personal life

Milgram resides in Washington, DC, with her husband and son.

References

External links

Official bio
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Milgram, Anne 1970 births Living people 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge East Brunswick High School alumni New Jersey Attorneys General New Jersey lawyers New York (state) lawyers New York University School of Law alumni New York University School of Law faculty People from Perth Amboy, New Jersey People from East Brunswick, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni Biden administration personnel Drug Enforcement Administration Administrators