Hollister K. Petraeus (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Knowlton; born July 17, 1952) is a retired Assistant Director at the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is an agency of the United States government responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector. CFPB's jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, payday lenders, mortg ...
(CFPB), where she headed up the Office of Servicemember Affairs. She retired on January 12, 2017. Her work at the CFPB centered around educating service members on sound financial management and protecting them against predatory lending and cons. She is the wife of retired General
David Howell Petraeus.
Early life and education
Petraeus was born as Hollister K. Knowlton in Paris, France into a military family. Her father, General
William Allen Knowlton, was a United States Army four-star general, and a former
Superintendent of the United States Military Academy
The Superintendent of the United States Military Academy is the academy's commanding officer. This position is roughly equivalent to the chancellor or president of an American civilian university. The officer appointed is, by tradition, a grad ...
. She was presented as a debutante to high society at the prestigious
International Debutante Ball
The International Debutante Ball is an invitation-only, formal debutante ball, to officially present well-connected young ladies of distinction from upper-class families to high society. Founded in 1954, it occurs every two years at the Waldorf ...
at the
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze ...
in New York City.
Petraeus graduated summa cum laude from
Dickinson College
, mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning
, established =
, type = Private liberal arts college
, endowment = $645.5 million (2022)
, president = J ...
in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1974, with Honors in French. She is a member of
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
.
Career
Petraeus spent six years as the Director of BBB Military Line, a program of the Council of
Better Business Bureaus
Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a private, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization founded in 1912. BBB's self-described mission is to focus on advancing marketplace trust, consisting of 97 independently incorporated local BBB organizations in the Unit ...
providing consumer education and advocacy for service members and their families. She helped develop the curriculum now used to educate service members in sensible financial management.
In 2011,
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...
appointed Petraeus to be Assistant Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, leading the Office of Servicemember Affairs. The office partners with the Pentagon to see that military families receive a strong financial education; monitors their complaints to the CFPB; and coordinates efforts of federal and state agencies regarding consumer protection measures for military families.
Petraeus wrote extensively for the CFPB's blog, with 50+ published articles as of July 2016. She has also been published in ''The New York Times'', writing about exploitable clauses in the Higher Education Act that incentivize private for-profit colleges to see service members as “dollar signs in uniform” and recruit them aggressively. She is frequently interviewed in regards to her work, and has served as a public speaker at events like the National Conference of State Legislature's 2013 Legislative Summit.
Petraeus appeared before several Congressional committees in her role at the CFPB in order to increase U.S. lawmakers’ awareness of the financial difficulties facing military service members.
Honors and awards
Honorary degrees
*
Methodist University
Methodist University is a private university that is historically related to the North Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and located in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges ...
in Fayetteville, NC, May 2011, honorary Doctor of Public Service
*
University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...
, May 2012, honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Awards
An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration.
An award ...
*
Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service
The Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service is the highest award that is presented by the Secretary of Defense, to a private citizen, politician, non-career federal employee, or foreign national. It is presented for exception ...
(Aug 2011)
*
Department of the Army
The United States Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the U.S. The Department of the Army is the federal government agency within which the United States Army (U.S.) is org ...
Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service (Aug 2011)
*
Department of the Army Outstanding Civilian Service Award (Jun 2001)
* Oklahoma Medal of Freedom (Apr 2011)
* Beacon of Ethics Award, The Greater Omaha Alliance for Business Ethics at
Creighton University
Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...
(Sept 2010)
* PenFed Foundation “Community Hero Award” (May 2013)
* Easter Seals Serving DC , MD , VA “Advocacy Award” (May 2014)
*
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence.
A non-profit group, they promote ...
(DAR), recipient of the first President General's Medallion (Jun 2012)
* HillVets 100 (2014)
* The Women's Center (McLean, VA) 28th Annual Leadership Conference Award (Mar 2014)
* National Military Family Association "Support of Military Families Award" (Mar 2017)
* American Bankruptcy Institute Annual Service Award (Apr 2022)
Personal life
Petraeus comes from a family known for a history of military service. Her great-great grandfather fought in the Civil War and the Indian Wars; her great-grandfather was a brigadier general who fought in the Spanish–American War and World War I; her grandfather served in both World Wars, earning a Silver Star in the first and rising to lieutenant colonel in the second.
Her father,
William A. Knowlton, was a retired four-star general and
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
commander. He was also Superintendent of the United States Military Academy.
In 1974, she married
David Petraeus
David Howell Petraeus (; born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior to h ...
, whom she met when he was a cadet at the United States Military Academy.
They have a daughter and a son and reside in the Washington, D.C., area.