Robert Walker Holleyman II (born February 4, 1955) served as the United States Deputy Trade Representative, with the rank of ambassador, in the
Office of the United States Trade Representative
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government responsible for developing and promoting Trade policy of the United States, American trade ...
in September, 2014 to January 2017. Previously he was the President & CEO of the
Business Software Alliance
The Software Alliance, also known as BSA, is a trade group established by Microsoft in 1988 to represent commercial software makers. It is a member of the International Intellectual Property Alliance. Its principal activity is trying to stop copyr ...
(BSA), the trade consortium which represents the interests of major software houses globally.
In July 2017, Holleyman joined C&M International LLC, a division of
Crowell & Moring
Crowell & Moring is an international law firm headquartered in Washington, DC, with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orange County, Chicago, Indianapolis, Denver, London, Brussels, Doha, and Shanghai. With approximately 600 l ...
, as president and CEO. He was also made partner in the firm's International Trade Group.
Biography
Holleyman obtained his
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
at
Trinity University in
San Antonio, Texas
("Cradle of Freedom")
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, and his
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 ...
at
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
Law Center in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...
.
He was judicial clerk for U.S. District Judge
Jack M. Gordon in
, Louisiana and was also an attorney with
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
-based law firm Margraves, Kennerly & Schueler.
Holleyman was legislative director and assistant to former U.S. Senator
Russell B. Long
Russell Billiu Long (November 3, 1918 – May 9, 2003) was an American Democratic politician and United States Senator from Louisiana from 1948 until 1987. Because of his seniority, he advanced to chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, servin ...
(D-LA) between 1982 and 1986, and senior counsel for the
from 1987 to 1990.
Holleyman joined the BSA as its
chief executive officer
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 ...
in 1990, and continued in that capacity until 2013.
Deputy United States Trade Representative
On February 26, 2014, President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
announced his intent to nominate Holleyman to be the next Deputy United States Trade Representative.
He was confirmed by
voice vote
In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...
to his position on September 18, 2014. Ambassador Holleyman led USTR's newly created Digital Trade Working Group and USTR's digital trade priorities known as the 'Digital 2 Dozen'. His responsibilities included US trade and investment relations with Asia, as well as trade negotiations and policy coordination in the areas of services, investment, innovation and intellectual property.
On June 9, 2015, he joined several other gay diplomats in a statement supporting international trade agreements as a means of enhancing LGBT rights worldwide.
Other
Holleyman has been called up as expert witness on issues affecting the software industry including copyright, trade, and emerging policy concerns resulting from increasing use of the Internet. He was named as one of its "Twenty to Watch" in the computer software industry by '' Computer Reseller News''. He was a regular contributor on the syndicated radio program, "On Computers", and frequently appears on National Public Radio, all the leading networks, public and cable television news programs.
In July 2003, Holleyman was named one of the 50 most influential people in the intellectual property world by the international Managing Intellectual Property magazine.
In addition, Holleyman is the founding president of the Alliance Against CD-ROM Theft (AACT) -- an organization combating the production and distribution of illegal CD-ROMs throughout Asia.
See also
*
Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft The Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST) is a Canadian trade group affiliated with the Software Alliance (formerly known as the Business Software Alliance).
References
External links
*
Office of the United States Trade Representative Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holleyman, Robert
1955 births
Living people
Lawyers from New Orleans
LGBT appointed officials in the United States
Louisiana lawyers
Louisiana State University alumni
Obama administration personnel
Texas lawyers
Trinity University (Texas) alumni
United States Trade Representatives