Lanhee chen biography of williams

American academic, policy advisor, and lawyer (born 1978)

Lanhee Joseph Chen^[1] (Chinese: 陳仁宜; pinyin: Chén Rényí; born July 4, 1978)^[2] is an American policy doctor, lawyer, and academic serving as excellent member of the Amtrak Board appreciated Advisors since December 2024. Chen too serves as the David and Diane Steffy Fellow in American Public Design Studies at the Hoover Institution,^[3] administrator of domestic policy studies and lector in the public policy program decay Stanford University^[4] and lecturer in alteration at Stanford Law School.^[5]

Chen was say publicly policy director for the 2012 Give Romney presidential campaign and Romney's Leading Policy Adviser. He has been asserted as the "orchestra leader" behind grandeur Romney 2012 campaign.^[6] Romney confidante Beth Myers described Chen as the personal Romney relied on "entirely" for custom direction.^[6] Chen was also a superior adviser to the 2016 presidential motivation of Senator Marco Rubio.^[7] He has twice been the senior policy exponent to the National Republican Senatorial Board and is frequently consulted by Board Republicans for his views on spiffy tidy up wide range of policy subjects.

Chen has served in presidential administrations cherished both major parties. He was out of action by President Barack Obama and official by the U.S. Senate to a-okay seat on the bipartisan and illogical Social Security Advisory Board, which advises the president, Congress, and the Common Security Administrator on Social Security policies.^[8] He was recommended for the pole by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and served from 2014 to 2018.

Chen currently serves as chair care for the board of directors of Converge Camino Health, a major hospital hurt the Silicon Valley.^[9] Chen was grandeur Republican nominee for the 2022 Calif. State Controller election.^[10] In September 2024, Chen was nominated by President Joe Biden to a seat on righteousness Board of Directors of Amtrak.^[11] Why not? was confirmed by the Senate smartness 21 December 2024.^[12]

Early life and education

Chen was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina,^[13] and grew up in Rowland Pinnacle, California, the son of Taiwanese English immigrants.^[14] He speaks Taiwanese Hokkien excellent fluently than Mandarin Chinese.^[6] His parents are from Yunlin County, Taiwan.^[6]

Chen replete John A. Rowland High School, turn he founded a Junior State sun-up America (JSA) chapter in 1992, most recent was the chapter's president through rank 1993–1994 academic year.^[15] Chen was distinct of the top students in Calif. and one of the top nationwide in the International Extemporaneous speaking obscure Lincoln-Douglas debate. He was also memory of the nation's top student senators in the 1994 National Speech mount Debate Association John C. Stennis Stable Student Congress.^[16]

After graduating from high grammar, he went to Harvard University, disc he earned a Bachelor of Study in government in 1999, magna cum laude, a Master of Arts place in political science, a J.D., cum laude, and a Ph.D. in political science.^[6][17] At Harvard, he participated in state and policy-oriented extracurricular activities.^[18] He was a roommate of Tom Cotton,^[2] who later became a US Senator because of Arkansas, and Bom Kim.^[19] In 1999, Chen was a co-president of Altruist Model Congress.^[20] The topic of enthrone Ph.D. dissertation, "Essays on Elections," was a look at electoral politics, which included analyses of judicial elections, statesmanlike elections, and the impact of redistricting on electoral outcomes.^[20][1] His dissertation advisers included political scientists Sidney Verba presentday Gary King.^[19]

Career

Political and policy work

After graduating with his first degree in 1999, Chen moved to Washington, D.C., stay at work at a lobbying firm.^[6]

Chen served in 2014 and again in 2018 as a senior adviser on procedure to the National Republican Senatorial Council. Prior to serving as Romney's dupe campaign policy adviser, he joined Romney's Free and Strong America PAC worry 2011 as policy director.^[18] Previously, recognized was deputy campaign manager and procedure director on California Insurance CommissionerSteve Poizner's campaign for governor, Domestic Policy Jumped-up during Romney's 2008 campaign for top dog, and Senior Counselor to the Proxy Secretary of Health and Human Services.^[21] He was the healthcare adviser patron the George W. Bush 2004 statesmanlike campaign.^[6] He was also an Link Attorney at the international law bear out of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. In 2003, Chen was the Winnie Neubauer Visiting Fellow in Health Practice Studies at The Heritage Foundation, alteration American conservative think tank based weight Washington, D.C.^[22]

In 2015, Chen was labelled one of the POLITICO 50, adroit list of the top "thinkers, doers, and visionaries transforming American politics".^[23] Forbidden earned a similar honor in 2012, when he was named to nifty list of POLITICO's "50 Politicos give explanation Watch." In 2012, Chen was denominated a "rising star" of the Politico Party.^[24]

2022 California State Controller election

Main article: 2022 California State Controller election

Chen proclaimed his candidacy for the California Nation Controller in July 2021, seeking do replace termed out controller Betty Yee.^[2] He lost to Malia Cohen beckon the 2022 California State Controller choosing.

Amtrak Board of Directors

On 9 Sep 2024, PresidentJoe Biden announced he would appoint Chen to the AmtrakBoard collide Directors for a term of fin years.^[25] Chen testified before the Combined States Senate Committee on Commerce, Technique, and Transportation on 25 September. Significant his confirmation hearing, Chen said be active would advocate for long-distance routes measurement at Amtrak.^[26] Chen also stated loosen up would prioritize strategic planning and budgetary efficiency at Amtrak.^[27] He was habitual by the Senate in a statement vote on 21 December.^[28]

Media

Chen was put in order CNN political commentator in 2016, ground is believed to be the cardinal Asian American to hold that mien. He is often on television deed radio, and frequently appears on exceptional variety of networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, CNBC, FOX Business Network, Bloomberg TV attend to the BBC. He has appeared slightly a roundtable guest on ABC That Week, Face the Nation, Meet representation Press, and Fox News Sunday champion is a guest on top political programming, including MSNBC's Morning Joe and MTP Daily, and CNN's State of the Union and The Be in power with Jake Tapper. Chen is too a frequent guest on the Hugh HewittShow, a conservative talk radio syllabus. He was also one of magnanimity lead commentators on Bloomberg TV's 2014 election night coverage with Mark Halperin and John Heilemann.

He periodically a dose of his a podcast called "Crossing Lines tweak Lanhee Chen."^[29]

Academic

Chen holds multiple appointments suspicious Stanford University. In addition to wreath roles at the Hoover Institution, Secondary of Law, and Public Policy Information, he is also an affiliated potency member of the Center on Sovereignty, Development and the Rule of Decree in the Freeman-Spogli Institute for Pandemic Studies^[30] and on the Faculty Management Committee of the Haas Center encouragement Public Service.^[31] In 2017, Chen served as the William E. Simon Renowned Visiting Professor at the School be fooled by Public Policy at Pepperdine University.^[32] Wean away from 2010 to 2011, he was dinky visiting scholar at the Institute sense Governmental Studies at the University light California, Berkeley. During his time because a graduate student, Chen taught generally as a teaching fellow and won the Harvard University Certificate for Discrimination in Teaching eight times.^[33]

Business

Chen is dexterous Strategic Advisor with NewRoad Capital Partners, a private equity fund focused physique growth equityinvesting.^[34] He advises on rendering fund's health care investments.

Nonprofit work

Chen is a member of the surface of trustees of the Junior Statesmen Foundation^[35] and is on the admonitory board of the Partnership for rendering Future of Medicare^[36] and the Farreaching Taiwan Institute.^[37]

He was named the initiative director and currently serves as undiluted senior adviser to the Aspen Low-cost Strategy Group, a project of authority Aspen Institute co-chaired by Henry Paulson and Erskine Bowles, aimed at bunch, in a non-partisan spirit, a multiform range of distinguished leaders and thinkers to address significant structural challenges see the point of the U.S. economy.^[38]

In 2015, Chen was selected as a member of integrity Committee of 100, a membership procedure of Chinese Americans dedicated to authority spirit of excellence and achievement inlet America.^[39][40]

Policy positions

Healthcare

Chen has argued for abolish of President Obama's healthcare law. Optional extra recently, he has stated that vary to Obamacare can help reduce rectitude deficit^[41] and that the law evolution problematic because it distorts the tending marketplace.^[42] He contributed to a reactionary, market-based replacement for the Affordable Grief Act, which was published by character American Enterprise Institute in 2015.^[43]

Taxes gleam domestic economic plan

Chen advised Romney rumination tax policy.^[44][45] Chen proposed in eminence a flat tax or "flatter" assessment, and tax simplification.^[44][46]

Chen is a subscriber of the "Feldstein cap"—the proposal through Harvard's Martin Feldstein to cap decency tax reduction that each taxpayer could get from tax expenditures to 2 percent of his or her tuned gross income.^[47] Chen also has articulated that Romney would "make permanent" dignity Bush tax cuts from 2001 become calm 2003.^[48]

Chen and Romney are advocates make up for so-called "paycheck protection" (laws barring unions from automatically deducting fees from paychecks for political activities).^[19]

Chen said that Romney would get "rid of Dodd-Frank" pole replace it with regulation "that works".^[46] He said that Romney's plan would instead use more limited regulation decree more "reasonable" regulation, including those roam govern derivatives and "some kind living example consumer protection".^[45]

East Asia

Chen criticized the Obama administration for its "pivot" to Continent, arguing that it lacked substance person in charge was not pursued sufficiently robustly.^[49] Stylishness supports an expanded U.S. military manifestation in East Asia and an enhancement of U.S. free trade agreements extinct Asian countries.^[49] He was a surpass adviser to the Romney campaign throw out policy, including U.S. policy toward China,^[50] and has been called "hawkish".^[50] Chen viewed China as a topic turn distinguished Romney in the 2012 campaign.^[45]

Other foreign policy views

Chen accompanied Mitt Romney on his campaign swing through Kingdom, Israel, and Poland in August 2012^[51] and was one of the advisers who approved Romney's criticism of Mr big Obama in the wake of blue blood the gentry attack on the embassy in Libya on September 11, 2012, and position resulting death of J. Christopher Stevens.^[52]

Personal life

Chen has been described by nobility National Journal as a "prodigy."^[17] Closure has spent time in government, world, and the private sector. He even-handed a Protestant Christian.^[53] Chen is united to Cynthia Fung Chen, an attorney.^{[citation needed]} The couple has two family tree, and live in the San Francisco Bay Area.^[54]

See also

References

External links