Gordon Hartogensis (born June 17, 1970) is an American businessman, investor, and government official who has served as the Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) since 2019. At PBGC, he has led the agency during the multiemployer pension crisis and the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Career

Hartogensis left a brief career on Wall Street to join two classmates from Stanford as an equal partner in a startup software company called

Petrolsoft Corporation Petrolsoft Corporation (1989–2000) was a supply chain management software company with a focus on the petroleum industry. Petrolsoft Corporation was founded at Stanford University in 1989 by Bill Miller and David Gamboa as Petrolsoft Software Gr ...

. After the company was acquired by

Aspen Technology Aspen Technology, Inc., known as AspenTech, is a provider of software and services for the process industries headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts. AspenTech has 35 offices globally. History Founded in 1981, AspenTech was born out a joint re ...

, Hartogensis served in a leadership role until June 2002. Shortly after his departure from Aspen Technology, Hartogensis founded Auric Technology LLC. As founder and chief executive officer, he was instrumental in the development of customer relationship management software solutions and support. Auric Technology was sold to Telnorm in 2011. After the sale of Auric Technology, he managed a portfolio of private equity, venture capital, real estate, and angel investments. He also served as an advisor to several portfolio companies.

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)

Hartogensis was nominated for the position of Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation on May 15, 2018. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 30, 2019 by a vote of 72–27. He was sworn in as Director on May 15, 2019. When Hartogensis took the helm of the PBGC in 2019, the agency faced a crisis in its multiemployer insurance program which was projected to be insolvent by 2025 and had a financial deficit of over 65 billion dollars. He worked with both parties in Congress to try to find a bipartisan solution to the crisis, and he testified before the

Senate Finance Committee The United States Senate Committee on Finance (or, less formally, Senate Finance Committee) is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The Committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generall ...

in December 2019. The

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to sp ...

which was signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021, provided $86 billion to address the multiemployer pension crisis. The law created Special Financial Assistance (SFA), a rescue program for financially troubled multiemployer pension plans. The SFA program was implemented by the PBGC under Hartogensis' leadership. PBGC's 2021 annual report reflected the impact of SFA, and the agency reported positive financial positions in both its single-employer and multiemployer insurance programs for the first time in over 20 years. On July 13, 2022, the

Partnership for Public Service The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Washington, D.C. whose mission is to inspire a new generation of civil servants and to transform the way government works. The Partnership's most visible program ...

rated PBGC number one in "2021 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government" among small agencies. Hartogensis accepted the award on behalf of PBGC.

Personal life

Hartogensis is married to Grace Chao, the sister of

Elaine Chao Elaine Lan Chao (born March 26, 1953) is an American businesswoman and former government official. A member of the Republican Party, she served as the 18th United States secretary of transportation in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2021, ...

, the Secretary of Labor under

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and the Secretary of Transportation under

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

. Hartogensis is the brother-in-law of

Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and retired attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky and the Senate minority leader since 2021. Currently in his seventh term, McConne ...

, the sitting Senate Minority Leader.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartogensis, Gordon 1970 births Living people Connecticut Republicans Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation