John L. Palmer is a university professor and dean-emeritus of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He recently completed two presidentially appointed terms as a public trustee for the Medicare and Social Security programs. Previously, he has held positions both in and out of government, including Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, and adjunct professor at Harvard University. His publications include 13 books and numerous professional and popular articles on economic, budgetary, and social policy issues. He has testified before Congress on many occasions and been a consultant to numerous government agencies, private foundations, and universities. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and past president of the National Academy of Social Insurance. He has a B.A from Williams College and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Rudolph G. Penner is an institute fellow, holding the Arjay and Frances Miller chair in public policy, at the Urban Institute. Previously, he was a managing director of the Barents Group, a KPMG company, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and a professor of economics at the University of Rochester. His government posts include director of the Congressional Budget Office, Assistant Director for Economic Policy at the Office of Management and Budget, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and senior staff economist at the Council of Economic Advisors. He received the Jesse Burkhead Award for the best article published in Public Budgeting and Finance. He is past president of the National Economists Club, and he served on the board of directors of the National Association for Business Economics. He has a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University.

Joseph Antos is the Wilson H. Taylor scholar in health care and retirement policy at the American Enterprise Institute. He is also a commissioner of the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission and an adjunct professor at the School of Public Health of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Previously, he was Assistant Director for Health and Human Resources at the Congressional Budget Office. His research focuses on the economics of health policy, including Medicare reform, health insurance regulation, and the uninsured. He has written and spoken extensively on the Medicare drug benefit and has led a team of experienced independent actuaries and cost estimators in a study to evaluate various proposals to extend health coverage to the uninsured. He has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester.

Kenneth S. Apfel is a professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. Previously, he held many senior government positions, including the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Associate Director for Human Resources for the Office of Management and Budget, and Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He also worked as Legislative Director to Senator Bill Bradley and served as Committee Staff for the US Senate Budget Committee. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and the National Academy of Social Insurance. He has a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, an M. Ed. from Northeastern University, and an M.P.A. from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Richard C. Atkinson is president emeritus of the University of California and professor emeritus of cognitive science and psychology at the University of California at San Diego. Prior to assuming the presidency of the University of California system, he was chancellor of University of California at San Diego. He is a former director of the National Science Foundation, past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was a long-term member of the faculty at Stanford University. His research has been concerned with problems of memory and cognition. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Education and the American Philosophical Society. He has a Ph.B. from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Indiana University.

Alan J. Auerbach is a Robert D. Burch professor of economics and law and director of the Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance at the University of California at Berkeley. Previously, he was a member of the Department of Economics at Harvard University and a professor of law and economics at the University of Pennsylvania. He has served as a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and as the deputy chief of staff on the Joint Committee on Taxation of the U.S. Congress. He has authored numerous articles, books, and reviews and is the past or present associate editor of six journals. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. . He has a B.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Rebecca M. Blank resigned from the committee in spring 2009 to accept the position of Under Secretary for Economic Affairs in the U.S. Department of Commerce. Before this appointment, she was the Robert V. Kerr senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Previously, she was dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public policy and professor of economics at the University of Michigan and codirector of the school’s National Poverty Center; a professor of economics at Northwestern University and director of the Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research; and a professor at Princeton University. She served as a member of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers. She has served as president of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, vice president of the American Economic Association, and president of the Midwest Economics Association. She is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Andrea L. Campbell is associate professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She studies American politics, political behavior, public opinion, political inequality, and social policy, particularly the interplay between political institutions and the political behavior and attitudes of mass publics. She is currently working on a study of taxes, public opinion, and the American fiscal state and on an examination of the politics of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. Her work has been published in the American Political Science Review, Health Affairs, Political Behavior, Studies in American Political Development, and Comparative Political Studies. She was a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy at Yale University. She has a B.A. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Chris Edwards is the director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute and manages www.downsizinggovernment.org. Previously, he was a senior economist on the congressional Joint Economic Committee, a tax manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers, and an economist with the Tax Foundation. Edwards’ articles on tax and budget policies have appeared in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Investor’s Business Daily, and other newspapers. He has a BA in economics from the University of Waterloo and an MA in economics from George Mason University.

Dana P. Goldman is the director of the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics and professor and Norman Topping chair in medicine and public policy at the University of Southern California. He also serves as an adjunct professor of health services and radiology at the University of California at Los Angeles and as a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His current research focuses on the intersection of applied microeconomics and medical issues, with a special interest in the role that medical technology and health insurance play in determining health-related outcomes. He is a recipient of the National Institute for Health Care Management Research Foundation award for Excellence in Health Policy. He has a B.A. from Cornell University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Robert F. Hale resigned from the committee in spring 2009 to accept the position of the Under Secretary (Comptroller) in the Department of Defense. Before this appointment, he was executive director of the American Society of Military Comptrollers, an 18,000-member association that provides professional development activities for defense financial managers. During the Clinton Administration, he served as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (financial management and comptroller). Prior to that appointment, he was head of the defense unit of the Congressional Budget Office. He is a former national president of the American Society of Military Comptrollers, He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He has a B.S. from Stanford University, an M.S. from Stanford University, and an M.B.A. from George Washington University.

Ellen Hughes-Cromwick is a director and the chief economist for Ford Motor Company. She has major responsibility for the company’s global economic and automotive industry forecasts used to support business strategy, finance, and planning and leads a group effort on special industry studies and strategic issues. Previously, she was also a senior economist at Mellon Bank, with major responsibilities that included the monthly U.S. macroeconomic forecast, credit markets outlook, and industry analysis. She has also held positions as an assistant professor of economics at Trinity College in Connecticut and as a staff economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers during the Reagan Administration. She currently serves as a board member of the National Association for Business Economics and the NABE Foundation. She has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Clark University.

Joseph J. Minarik is the senior vice president and director of research at the Committee for Economic Development (CED), where he leads research projects on the economy and the federal budget, globalization, trade early childhood education, campaign finance reform, and health care. Previously, he served as executive director of the Joint Economic Committee for Chair Lee Hamilton and executive director for policy and chief economist of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives for chair Leon E. Panetta. During the Clinton Administration, he served as associate director for economic policy at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. He worked on the formulation and adoption of President Bill Clinton’s 1993 economic program and subsequently on what evolved into the Bipartisan Balanced Budget Agreement of 1997. He is the author of Making Tax Choices (Urban Institute Press) and many articles on fiscal issues. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He has a B.A. from Georgetown University and a PhD from Yale University.

Olivia S. Mitchell is the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans professor and Chair of insurance and risk management, executive director of the Pension Research Council, and director of the Boettner Center on Pensions and Retirement Research, all at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and co-director of the Financial Literacy Center. Her main areas of research and teaching are private and public insurance, risk management, public finance and labor markets, and compensation and pensions, both in the United States and internationally. She was a member of Commission to Strengthen Social Security in the George W. Bush Administration. Her many speaking engagements have included the World Economic Forum and the International Monetary Fund, and she has provided testimony to committees of the U.S. Congress, the parliament of the United Kingdom, the Australian Parliament, and the Brazilian Senate. She has a B.A from Harvard and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Gilbert S. Omenn is professor of internal medicine, human genetics, bioinformatics, and public health at the University of Michigan. Previously, he served as executive vice president for medical affairs and as chief executive officer of the University of Michigan Health System. He also served as dean of the School of Public Health and professor of medicine and environmental health at the University of Washington in Seattle. His research interests include cancer proteomics, chemoprevention of cancers, public health genetics, science-based risk analysis, and health policy. During the Carter Administration he was associate director in the Office of Science and Technology Policy and associate director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. He is a former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Association of American Physicians, and the American College of Physicians. He has a B.A. from Princeton University, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington.

Sean O’Keefe is the chief executive officer of EADS North America. Previously he was vice president and a corporate officer of the General Electric Company in the technology infrastructure sector, and he led Washington operations for the company’s aviation business. He has been chancellor of Louisiana State University and has held faculty positions at Syracuse University and Pennsylvania State University. In the administration of George W. Bush he was deputy assistant to the President, deputy director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, administrator of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He also served as secretary of the Navy, and previously as comptroller and chief financial officer of the Department of Defense in the administration of George H.W. Bush. Prior to joining the Administration he was staff director on the Committee on Appropriations and the Defense Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and of the International Academy of Astronautics. He has a B.A. from Loyola University and an M.P.A. from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University.

June E O’Neill is the Wollman professor of economics at the Zicklin School of Business and the director of the Center for the Study of Business and Government in the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College of the City University of New York. She is also an adjunct scholar of the American Enterprise Institute. Her government service includes director of the Congressional Budget Office, director of policy and research at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and senior economist at the Council of Economic Advisors in the Reagan Administration. She has also held positions as senior research associate at the Urban Institute and research associate at the Brookings Institution. Her published research includes wage differentials by race and gender, health insurance, tax and budget policy, and social security. She has a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Paul L. Posner is the director of the Public Administration Program at George Mason University. Previously, he led the budget and public finance work of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, developing long-term models of the federal budget, outlining opportunities for reform in major federal programs, and recommending changes to the budget process to provide greater visibility to long-term issues.. His work on the federal budget has earned him the James Blum Award from the Association of Budget and Program Analysis for outstanding public budgeting leadership and the S. Kenneth Howard Award from the Association for Budget and Financial Management. He has served as president of the Association for Budget and Financial Management and of the American Society for Public Administration. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and chairs the Academy’s Panel on the Federal System. He has a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Robert D. Reischauer is president of the Urban Institute. Previously, he was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the senior vice president of the Urban Institute. His government service includes the Congressional Budget office, where he served as assistant director for human resources, deputy director, and director. His main research foci are the federal budget, Medicare, and Social Security, especially the effects of entitlement programs on the fiscal outlook and budget process. He served on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and served as its vice chair. He has written widely and testified before congressional committee on a range of economic and welfare issues. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine and a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He has a master of international affairs degree and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Margaret C. Simms is an institute fellow at the Urban Institute and director of its low-income working families project, a research initiative exploring the challenges faced by 9 million families and their 19 million children. Previously, she held many positions at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, including vice president for governance and economic analysis and interim president. She has also served as a faculty member at Atlanta University, at Clark College (Atlanta) and at the University of California at Santa Cruz. She has been editor of the Review of Black Political Economy and chair of the board of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. She has been a member of Black Enterprise magazine’s board of economists and president of the National Academy of Social Insurance. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has a M.A. degree and a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University.

William E. Spriggs resigned from the committee in spring 2009 to accept the position of Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor. Before this appointment, he was the chair of the Department and a professor of economics at Howard University. He was also a senior fellow for the Community Service Society of New York.. He served as chair of the Independent Health Care Trust for United Auto Workers (UAW) Retirees of Ford Motor Company, and he was on the Board of the Retiree Health Administration Corporation, which administers the health care trusts for UAW retirees of Ford and General Motors, and chaired The UAW Retirees of the Dana Corporation Health and Welfare Trust. During the Clinton Administration he served as senior adviser to the Associate Deputy Administrator for Government Contracting and Business Development and an economist and special adviser in the Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs in the U.S. Department of Commerce. He has also served as executive director of the National Urban League’s Institute for Opportunity and Equality. He is a member of the National Academy of Public Administration, and the National Academy for Social Insurance. He has a B.A. from Williams College and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Thomas C. Sutton is the retired chairman and CEO of Pacific Life Insurance Company. He now serves on the boards of directors of Pacific Life, Edison International, Southern California Edison, and the Public Policy Institute of California, which he previously chaired; and he previously served as chair and director of the American Council of Life Insurers and the Association of California Life and Health Insurance Companies. He has previously served as director or trustee for a range of organizations, including The Irvine Company, the California Chamber of Commerce, the Orange County Performing Arts Center, the California Business Roundtable, and the South Coast Repertory Theatre. He has a B.S. from the University of Toronto, and he completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University.

Susan Tanaka is the director of citizen education and engagement at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Previously, she was the associate director for communications and a senior analyst in the Budget Analysis Division of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Other government work included the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, as a budget analyst and as a special assistant to the Assistant Director of Administration and Legislation, working on agency-wide personnel and administrative issues. She has also been vice president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, directing its analytic work on issues related to the federal budget, including Social Security, health care programs, tax issues, and budget process and scorekeeping. She has an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management and an M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University.

Ruth A. Wooden is president of Public Agenda. Previously, Ms. Wooden was executive vice president and senior counselor at the international public relations firm of Porter Novelli, where she led the Advertising and Cause-Related Marketing Practice. Other previous positions included volunteer president of the National Parenting Association and president of The Advertising Council. She currently serves as chair of the Board of Civic Ventures. She is also on the boards of the Family Violence Prevention Fund and Research!America and is a former director of CARE and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. She is a recipient of United Jewish Appeal’s Maxwell Dane Humanitarian Award, the Advertising Woman of the Year, the Prudential Prize in Non-Profit Leadership, and the Matrix Award from New York Women in Communication. She has a B.A. in sociology and history from the University of Minnesota and was awarded an honorary Ph.D. from Northeastern University.