About: John Palmer and Rudy Penner, Co-Chairs, Committee on the Fiscal Future of the United States
Biography: 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.