Kenneth Willard Dam (August 10, 1932 – May 31, 2022) was an American politician and academic who served as

Deputy Secretary of the Treasury The United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, in the United States government, advises and assists the Secretary of the Treasury in the supervision and direction of the Department of the Treasury and its activities, and succeeds the Secret ...

(the second highest official in the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

) from 2001 to 2004, where he specialized in international economic development. He was a senior fellow of the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in ec ...

and a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

and senior lecturer at the

University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dist ...

Early life and education

Kenneth Willard Dam was born in

Marysville, Kansas Marysville is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,447. History Marysville was laid out in 1855 by Francis J. Marshall, and designated in that same ...

, the son of Ida (Hueppelheiser) and Oliver Dam, a grain and chicken farmer. His grandparents were German and Danish immigrants. He graduated from Marysville High School, in 1950 and from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

in 1954, and earned his J.D. degree from the University of Chicago law school in 1957. He then served as a law clerk to

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

justice Charles Whittaker in 1957 and 1958. He became an associate at the law firm of

Cravath, Swaine & Moore Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (known as Cravath) is an American white-shoe law firm with its headquarters in New York City, and an additional office in London. The firm is known for its complex and high profile litigation and mergers & acquisitions ...

until he joined the University of Chicago as a law professor in 1960, becoming provost in 1980. Dam was a longtime director of the

's program in Law & Economics.

Career

Dam held a number of government positions during various

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

administrations while on leave from the University of Chicago: * Program Assistant Director for national security and international affairs at the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

(1971–1973) * Executive Director of the White House Council on Economic Policy (1973) * Deputy Secretary of State (1982–1985) After leaving the

Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

administration in 1985, Dam became vice president for law and external relations at IBM until 1992. He served as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the

United Way of America United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

in 1992, and helped lead an investigation of a highly publicized scandal in the leadership of that organization and reorganize its staff and governance. He then rejoined the University of Chicago law school faculty. He has also been an arbitrator, most notably from 1996 to 2001 under the collective bargaining agreement between professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

players and the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

. Dam has served on the board of a number of public policy institutions, including the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

, the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, and the Brookings Institution. He was co-chairman of the Aspen Strategy Group from 1991 to 2001 and was, during 1999 and 2000, chairman of the German-American Academic Council. From 1987 to 2001 he was a member of the board of

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...

. He is a former member of the Steering Committee of the

Bilderberg Group The Bilderberg meeting (also known as the Bilderberg Group) is an annual off-the-record conference established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally to prevent another world war, is now defin ...

. He first participated in their annual conference in 1983 when he was Under Deputy Secretary of State. He would miss only one conference between 1983 and 1997 and participate again in 2001 and 2002.

Publications

* ''The Law-Growth Nexus: The Rule of Law and Economic Development'', Brookings Institution Press, 2006 * ''The Rules of the Global Game: A New Look at US International Economic Playmaking'', University Of Chicago Press, 2001 * ''Economic Policy Beyond the Headlines'', with George P. Shultz, University of Chicago Press, second edition 1998 * ''The Rules of the Game: Reform and Evolution in the International Monetary System'', University of Chicago Press, 1982 * ''Oil Resources: Who Gets What How?'', University of Chicago Press, 1978

References

External links

University of Chicago law school biography of Kenneth Dam

* ttp://www.revistainterforum.com/english/articles/102102eco_growth_dammiami.html Speech by Kenneth Dam on economic growth in Latin America* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dam, Kenneth W. 1932 births 2022 deaths Atlantic Council 20th-century American writers 21st-century American writers 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States United States Deputy Secretaries of the Treasury United States Deputy Secretaries of State IBM employees Members of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group University of Kansas alumni University of Chicago Law School alumni George W. Bush administration personnel Illinois Republicans People from Marysville, Kansas Cravath, Swaine & Moore associates Acting United States Secretaries of the Treasury Writers from Illinois Writers from Kansas

Early life and education

Career

Publications

See also

References

External links