J. Robert Kerrey
WHEN: November 2, 2001
WHERE: The Wyndham Anatole Hotel, Dallas, TX
J. Robert Kerrey is a former Senator from Nebraska. He became President of New School University in January 2001.
Kerrey was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1988, and then reelected in November 1994. Senator Kerrey has served on many congressionally chartered commissions including the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare, the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform (where he served as Chair), and the National Commission on Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service (where he served as Co-Chairman). He was Co-Chairman of the Congressional Web-based Education Commission and Co-Chairman on the National Reconnaissance Office.
The findings and final report of the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform, released in January 1995, are often cited by economic experts and national leaders as the definitive analysis of the nation's entitlement system and a turning point in the debate on entitlement reform.
In 1982, Robert Kerrey was elected Governor of Nebraska. As Governor, he inherited a three percent deficit and was faced with a deep recession and significant loss of federal subsidies. By 1987, when he left the Governor's office, he had balanced the budget and turned the deficit into a seven percent surplus.
Prior to his entering public service, Kerrey built a chain of highly successful restaurants and health clubs that now employs more than 900 people.
In 1966, Kerrey volunteered for service in the U.S. Navy as a Navy Seal and was wounded in action in Vietnam in 1969. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1970.
Senator Kerrey was born in Lincoln, Nebraska on August 27, 1943. He graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln with a degree in Pharmacy in 1966. He is married to Sarah Paley and has two children by a previous marriage.