Robert Rudolf Glauber (March 22, 1939February 14, 2021) was an American academic who was a lecturer at Harvard's

Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

and a visiting professor at the

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. He was the former chairman, president, board member and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of NASD, and

Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance The under secretary of the treasury for domestic finance is a high-ranking position within United States Department of the Treasury that reports to, advises, and assists the secretary of the treasury and the deputy secretary of the treasury. The ...

from 1989 to 1992. Glauber was executive director of the task force appointed by President Reagan to report on the

1987 stock market crash Black Monday (also known as Black Tuesday in some parts of the world due to time zone differences) was a global, severe and largely unexpected stock market crash on Monday, October 19, 1987. Worldwide losses were estimated at US$1.71 trillion. ...

. He was also a director of

Moody's Corporation Moody's Corporation is an American business and financial services company. It is the holding company for Moody's Ratings (previously known as Moody's Investors Service), an American credit rating agency, and Moody's (previously known as Moody ...

, a trustee of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation; and director of

XL Capital Axa XL is an American subsidiary of global insurance and reinsurance company Axa. It is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, domiciled in Hamilton, Bermuda, and has more than 100 offices on 6 continents. In 2016, the company wrote $13.890 bi ...

Ltd. Glauber had been a senior advisor at Peter J. Solomon Co., an investment bank, since November 2006 and was a member of the

Committee on Capital Markets Regulation The Committee on Capital Markets Regulation is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) research organization financed by contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations. Background Thirty-six leaders from the financial sector, in ...

. He received his degrees from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

and

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

Early life

Glauber was born on March 22, 1939, in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, New York. His father, E. Robert Glauber, was an executive at a chain of men's hat stores. Glauber grew up on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...

of Manhattan. He graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1961, starting out with math before graduating with an economics major. He went on to complete his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

in 1964.

Career

Glauber started his career as a member of the faculty at

in 1964 and continued here until he was called to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

as the executive director of the Task Force appointed by President Reagan to report on the

. The team was chartered with a sixty-day goal of identifying the root cause of the stock market crash on October 19, 1987, an event that was called

Black Monday Black Monday refers to specific Mondays when undesirable or turbulent events have occurred. It has been used to designate massacres, military battles, and stock market crashes. Historic events *1209, Dublin – when a group of 500 recently arriv ...

. Working with a group that included academics, computer science experts, and

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

experts, the task force produced a 350-page report that attributed the crash to computer-driven automated orders and trading. One of the outcomes of the recommendations was the introduction of circuit breakers that would automatically halt trading when certain volume or price targets were breached. Glauber joined the Treasury Department as the

in 1989 in the

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

administration, when Nicholas Brady was the

Treasury Secretary The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

, and served in this position through 1992. During his time at the department, he helped develop legislation driving regulatory changes for at risk savings and loans associations. The approved legislation in 1989, created the

Resolution Trust Corporation Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) was a U.S. government-owned asset management company first run by Lewis William Seidman and charged with liquidating assets, primarily real estate-related assets such as mortgage loans, that had been assets ...

, a government owned asset management corporation that would sell assets claimed from these S&L associations. He also drafted proposals in 1991, that aimed to repeal

depression-era The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

regulations that prevented banks from diversifying into a range of adjacent financial services. The proposals did not pass Congress. Glauber returned to the academic circuit back in 1992, when he came back as a lecturer at the Harvard's

and was later a visiting professor at the

. He was the chairman, president, board member and

of NASD (now called

FINRA The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private American corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) that financial regulation, regulates member brokerage firms and exchange (organized market), exchange markets. ...

), the American private sector regulator of financial markets, between 2000 and 2006. During his time as the CEO, he led the organization's transition to a non-profit organization focused on driving market regulations. This was also the period when NASD divested its ownership in

Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

and

American Stock Exchange NYSE American, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and more recently as NYSE MKT, is an American stock exchange situated in New York City. AMEX was previously a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known ...

, and improving its finances towards pursuing regulatory actions, set up the

TRACE Trace may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995 * ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993 * Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band * ''The Trace'' (album), by Nell Other uses in arts and entertainment * ...

bond price transparency systems, and drove new rules around conflict of interest declarations for analysts. The organization also led investor education programs to drive financial literacy amongst market participants. Glauber was on the board of directors of

, the

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, commonly known as the Boston Fed, is responsible for the First District of the Federal Reserve, which covers New England: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and all of Connecticut excep ...

Freddie Mac The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is an American publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons, Virginia.Northeast Bank, and

Ltd., and a trustee of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation. He had been a senior advisor at Peter J. Solomon Co., an investment bank, since November 2006 and was also a member of the

Personal life

Glauber met his future wife, Barbara Winter, when she was studying at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. The couple married in 1978 and went on to have two children. He was noted to have loved opera, including those by

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

and

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

, having made multiple visits to England and Germany, stating that one could watch the same opera "infinite times". Glauber died at his home in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...

, on February 14, 2021. He was aged 81 and had been diagnosed with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

References

External links

* Report of the Presidential Task Force on Market Mechanisms on

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glauber, Robert R. Harvard Law School faculty American chief executives of financial services companies Harvard Business School alumni Harvard College alumni Harvard Kennedy School faculty 1939 births 2021 deaths Businesspeople from New York City Educators from Manhattan Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Massachusetts