Alice Mitchell Rivlin (born Georgianna Alice Mitchell; March 4, 1931 – May 14, 2019) was an American economist and budget official. She served as the 16th

Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve The vice chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the second-highest officer of the Federal Reserve, after the chair of the Federal Reserve. In the absence of the chair, the vice chair presides over the meetings Board of ...

from 1996 to 1999. Before her appointment at the Fed, Rivlin named director of 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 ...

in the

Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over ...

from 1994 to 1996. Prior to that, she was instrumental to establishment of the

Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. Ins ...

and became its founding director from 1975 to 1983. A member of the Democratic Party, Rivlin was the first woman to hold either of those posts. While not in government, Dr. Rivlin was a senior fellow for Economic Studies at 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 e ...

and a visiting professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy of

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...

. She was a noted expert on the U.S. federal budget and

macroeconomic Macroeconomics (from the Greek prefix ''makro-'' meaning "large" + ''economics'') is a branch of economics dealing with performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. For example, using interest rates, taxes, an ...

policy; and co-chaired, with retired U.S. Senator

Pete Domenici Pietro Vichi "Pete" Domenici (May 7, 1932 – September 13, 2017) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States Senator from New Mexico from 1973 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served six terms in the S ...

(R-NM), the

Bipartisan Policy Center The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that promotes bipartisanship. The organization aims to combine ideas from both the Republican and Democratic parties to address challenges in the U.S. BPC focuses on is ...

's Debt Reduction Task Force.

Early life and education

Georgianna Alice Mitchell was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, the daughter of Georgianna Peck (Fales) and Allan C. G. Mitchell. She was the granddaughter of

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

Samuel Alfred Mitchell. She grew up in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...

, where her father was on the faculty of

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

. She briefly attended University High School in Bloomington before leaving to attend high school at

Madeira School The Madeira School (simply referred to as Madeira School or Madeira) is an elite, private, day and boarding college-preparatory school for girls in McLean, Virginia, United States. It was established in 1906 by Lucy Madeira Wing. History Origi ...

. She then went on to study at

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United ...

. Initially, she wanted to major in history, but after taking an economics course at

, she decided to change her major to economics. Rivlin earned her Bachelor of Arts in 1952, writing her senior thesis on the economic integration of

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

, and upon graduation, she moved to Europe where she worked on the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

. Originally, Rivlin wanted to attend graduate school in public administration but was rejected on the grounds that she was a woman of marriageable age. Rivlin earned a Ph.D. in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and h ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1958.

Career

Alice Rivlin was affiliated several times with the

, including stints in 1957–1966, 1969–1975, 1983–1993, and 1999 to her death. She was a visiting professor at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy. From 1968 to 1969, she was appointed by President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

as Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation,

United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is " ...

. In 1971 she authored ''Systematic Thinking for Social Action''. She was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 1973.

Rivlin was the first director of the newly established

(CBO) during 1975–1983. As head of the CBO, she was a persistent and vociferous critic of

Reaganomics Reaganomics (; a portmanteau of ''Reagan'' and ''economics'' attributed to Paul Harvey), or Reaganism, refers to the neoliberal economic policies promoted by U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. These policies are commonly associat ...

. She named 1983

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

in recognition of her role as CBO creator. After that Dr. Rivlin served as the deputy director of

(OMB) from 1993 to 1994 and was elevated to OMB director from 1994 to 1996 both in the

. President Clinton nominated her as the

from 1996 to 1999. Upon confirmation, Rivlin became the highest-ranked woman in the history of the Federal Reserve at that time. She was also chair of the

District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority The District of Columbia Financial Control Board (officially the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority) was a five-member body established by the United States Congress in 1995 to oversee the finances of ...

from 1998 to 2001. In 2012, she received a Foremother Award from the National Research Center for Women & Families. Rivlin was on the Board of Directors at the National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD). The institute was created at the University of Arizona after the tragic shooting of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in 2011, that killed 6 people and wounded 13 others.

Debt reduction/fiscal management panels in 2010

Rivlin and former Senator

( R- NM) were named in January 2010 to chair a Debt Reduction Task Force, sponsored by the

in Washington, D.C. Rivlin soon thereafter was named by President Obama to his 18-member bipartisan

National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (often called Simpson–Bowles or Bowles–Simpson from the names of co-chairs Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles; or NCFRR) was a bipartisan Presidential Commission on deficit reduction, ...

panel chaired by former

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Alan K. Simpson, (R- WY), and former White House Chief of Staff

Erskine Bowles Erskine Boyce Bowles (born August 8, 1945) is an American businessman and political figure from North Carolina. He served from 2005 to 2010 as the president of the University of North Carolina system. In 1997–98 he served as White House C ...

( D), commonly known as the Simpson-Bowles Commission. The balance of the panel is three more members appointed by the President, six members of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, and six members of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

. The commission first met on April 27, 2010, and had a December report deadline. A health-care component of the overall U.S. federal and

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

fiscal-management challenge was addressed by a panel including Rivlin on

The Diane Rehm Show ''The Diane Rehm Show'' was a call-in show based in the United States that aired nationally on NPR (National Public Radio). In October 2007, ''The Diane Rehm Show'' was named to the Audience Research Analysis list of the top ten most powerful nati ...

in June. Along with former Comptroller General David Walker, Rivlin danced the Harlem Shake in a video produced by The Can Kicks Back, a nonpartisan group that aims to organize

millennials Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 20 ...

to pressure lawmakers to address the United States' $16.4 trillion debt. The video concludes with her making an importuned plea to the twenty-somethings seated around the room: "There's no dancing around the fact that more needs to be done quickly to put our future debt on a downward track. But our leaders need to hear from you." Alice Rivlin urging Supercommittee

Personal life

Rivlin was of Cornish ancestry. In 1955, she married former Justice Department attorney Lewis Allen Rivlin of the

Rivlin Rivlin ( he, ריבלין) is a primarily Jewish family with origins in Austria and Eastern Europe, which became established in early 19th century Palestine (now Israel). There are also branches of the family in several other countries. The famil ...

family, with whom she had three children; they divorced in 1977, although she kept his surname professionally. In 1989, she married economist

Sidney G. Winter Sidney Graham Winter (born 1935, in Iowa City, Iowa) is an American economist and Professor Emeritus of Management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is recognized as a leading figures in the revival of evolutionary economics. ...

. She died in Washington, D.C., on May 14, 2019, aged 88.

Awards

*Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

, 1987 *First winner of the Carolyn Shaw Bell Award, 1998 *Foremother Award from the National Center for Health Research, 2012 *One of the members of the inaugural class of the Government Hall of Fame, 2019, posthumous

Bibliography

* * *

References

External links

Home page at the Brookings Institution
*
Interview with the Minneapolis FedInterview with Federal ReserveTestimony of Alice Rivlin to Congress, October 5, 1977, on the potential energy savings of urban transportation.

Alice Rivlin profile at LittleSisStatements and Speeches of Alice M. Rivlin
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivlin, Alice 1931 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American economists 20th-century American educators 20th-century American women educators 21st-century American economists 21st-century American educators 21st-century American women educators American people of Cornish descent American women economists Brookings Institution people Bryn Mawr College alumni Clinton administration cabinet members Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. Directors of the Congressional Budget Office Directors of the Office of Management and Budget Distinguished Fellows of the American Economic Association Economists from Pennsylvania Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences MacArthur Fellows Madeira School alumni McCourt School of Public Policy faculty Obama administration personnel Presidents of the American Economic Association Radcliffe College alumni Vice Chairs of the Federal Reserve Washington, D.C., Democrats Women members of the Cabinet of the United States Writers from Bloomington, Indiana Writers from Philadelphia