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Roberta Karmel

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Roberta Sarah Karmel
Born (1937-05-04) May 4, 1937 (age 87)
Chicago, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Attorney and law professor
Years active1962-present
EmployerBrooklyn Law School
Known forfirst female Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Titlethe Centennial Professor of Law, and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of International Business Law
Board member ofNew York Stock Exchange (1983-89)

Roberta Sarah Karmel (born May 4, 1937) is an American attorney and the Centennial Professor of Law, and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of International Business Law, at Brooklyn Law School.[1][2] She was the first female Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Early life and education

Karmel was born in Chicago, Illinois, grew up in its Austin neighborhood, and has one sister.[2][3] Both of her parents had also been born in Chicago, and her father was a lawyer.[3] She had by her own account a liberal New York Jewish background, which initially made her pro-government intervention in the economy; a sentiment that changed over time.[4]

She attended Austin High School, graduating in 1955, and the University of Michigan in 1955.[2][5] She received a B.A. from Radcliffe College (cum laude; American History and Literature; 1959).[6][7][8] She married her husband Peter Karmel, who has since died, after her sophomore year of college.[7] She earned an LL.B. from New York University School of Law (cum laude; 1962), where she was on the NYU Law Review.[6][7][8] Her law school class had about 4% women.[7]

Career

Karmel served as an enforcement attorney, Branch Chief, and Assistant Regional Administrator in the Securities and Exchange Commission's New York Regional Office from 1962-69.[9][10][11] She later served as a Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission from September 1977 - February 1980, and was the first female SEC Commissioner in the SEC's 48-year history.[6][2][12][4][13][14] Having been appointed at 40 years of age, she was one of the youngest Commissioners ever appointed.[15]

She practiced law in New York City at Willkie Farr & Gallagher (1969-72), Rogers & Wells (1972-77; 1980-86), and Kelley Drye & Warren (1987-2002).[6][9][10][7]

Karmel was an adjunct professor of law at Brooklyn Law School from 1973 to 1977 and from 1982 to 1985, and has been a full professor there since 1985.[10] She is Centennial Professor of Law, and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of International Business Law, at Brooklyn Law School.[6] She teaches securities regulation.[16][17]

Karmel served as a public director of the New York Stock Exchange from 1983-89, the third woman to serve on its Board of Directors.[6][8] She was a Fulbright Scholar in 1991-92.[6]

Karmel is a former trustee and Chair of the Practising Law Institute.[6][10] She is Co-Chair of the International Coordinating Committee of the Section of Business Law of the American Bar Association and Chair of the AALS Section on Securities Regulation.[6] She is a member of the Advisory Committee on capital markets law to Unidroit, a member of the American Law Institute, and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.[6]

Karmel has written 50 articles in books and legal journals, and has written a regular column on securities regulation for the New York Law Journal.[6] Her book entitled Regulation by Prosecution: The Securities and Exchange Commission vs. Corporate America was published by Simon and Schuster in 1982.[6][18][19] Her book Life at the Center: Reflections on Fifty Years of Securities Regulation was published by Practising Law Institute in 2014.[20][10]

Karmel has received the William O. Douglas Award from the Association of Securities and Exchange Commission Alumni, the Direct Women Award from the Sandra Day O'Connor Board of Excellence, the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award from the American Bar Association, and the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who's Who.[16][10][21]

References

  1. ^ "Weddings; Roberta Karmel, S. David Harrison". The New York Times. October 29, 1995.
  2. ^ a b c d United States Congress Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (October 16, 1977). "Nominations of Roberta S. Karmel and Eloise A. Woods: Hearing Before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, First Session, on the Nominations of Roberta S. Karmel, to be Commissioner, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Eloise A. Woods, to be Chairman, National Credit Union Board, September 16, 1977". U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b "Transcript of Interview with Roberta S. Karmel (Feb. 20, 2013; Mar. 28, 2013; July 16, 2013; July 24, 2013; July 30, 2013)," ABA.
  4. ^ a b Berry, John F. (March 21, 1982). "Taking Stock of Big Business and the SEC". The Washington Post.
  5. ^ SEC Historical Society. "Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society". www.sechistorical.org.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Roberta S. Karmel," SEC.gov.
  7. ^ a b c d e Roberta S. Karmel (February 28, 2009). "Life at the Center: Reflections on My Career". www.americanbar.org.
  8. ^ a b c "An Interview with Roberta S. Karmel". www.americanbar.org. June 20, 2016.
  9. ^ a b "Roberta S. Karmel | Capital Markets". capital-markets.law.columbia.edu.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "Roberta Karmel Presented with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who's Who". 24-7 Press Release Newswire. October 16, 2018.
  11. ^ "Interview with Roberta Karmel," SEC Historical Society, July 8, 2005.
  12. ^ Caplan, Sheri J. (2013). Petticoats and Pinstripes: Portraits of Women in Wall Street's History: Portraits of Women in Wall Street's History. ABC-CLIO – via Google Books.
  13. ^ Peirce, Hester (November 17, 2018). "Hester Peirce: All women do not speak with the same voice, and SEC commissioners are no different". www.investmentnews.com.
  14. ^ "Commisioner Karmel Resigns," SEC News Digest, January 23,1980.
  15. ^ SEC Historical Society. "Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society". www.sechistorical.org.
  16. ^ a b "Roberta S. Karmel," aseca, February 24, 2017.
  17. ^ "Brooklyn Law School - Karmel Roberta". www.brooklaw.edu.
  18. ^ Karmel, Roberta S. (1982). Regulation by Prosecution: The Securities and Exchange Commission Vs. Corporate America. Simon & Schuster – via Google Books.
  19. ^ Gryzebielski, Greg (August 16, 1982). "Karmel on the S.E.C.: New Directions?". ABA Journal. American Bar Association – via Google Books.
  20. ^ "Hon. Roberta S. Karmel - Practising Law Institute". www.pli.edu.
  21. ^ "New York Life Fellow Roberta Karmel - American Bar Foundation". www.americanbarfoundation.org.


Category:Living people Category:University of Michigan alumni Category:Radcliffe College alumni Category:New York University School of Law alumni Category:Brooklyn Law School faculty Category:Scholars of securities law Category:People from Chicago Category:Fulbright Scholars Category:Members of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Category:New York Stock Exchange people Category:1937 births Category:American lawyers Category:American women lawyers

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