DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, LICENSING, & REGULATION

SECRETARIES

FORMER SECRETARIES

[photo, Thomas E. Perez, Maryland Secretary of Labor, Licensing, & Regulation] THOMAS EDWARD PEREZ, Esq.
Secretary of Labor, Licensing, & Regulation, 2007-09
Acting Secretary of Labor, Licensing, & Regulation, 2007

Secretary of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, March 15, 2007 to October 7, 2009. Acting Secretary of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, January 23, 2007 to March 15, 2007. Co-Chair, Maryland Home-Ownership Preservation Task Force, 2007. Member, Maryland Advisory Council for New Americans, 2007-08; Governor's Executive Council, 2007-09; Base Realignment and Closure Subcabinet, 2007-09.

Thomas E. Perez, Secretary of Labor, Licensing, & Regulation, February 2007. Photo by Mark Odell.

Member, Asbestos Oversight Committee, 2007-09; Maryland Building Rehabilitation Code Advisory Council, 2007-09; Interagency Disabilities Board, 2007-09; Governor's Commission on Hispanic Affairs, 2007-09; Governor's Interagency Council on Homelessness, 2007-09; Maryland Advisory Commission on Manufacturing Competitiveness, 2007-09; Interdepartmental Advisory Committee for Minority Affairs, 2007-09; State Board of Pilots, 2007-09; P-20 Leadership Council of Maryland, 2007-09; Governor's Workforce Investment Board, 2007-09 (executive committee, 2007-09). Co-Chair, Workforce Creation and Adult Education Transition Council, 2008. Member, Commission to Study the Impact of Immigrants in Maryland, 2008-09; Pricing and Selection Committee for the Employment Works Program, 2008-09. Co-Chair, Education and Workforce Training Coordinating Council for Correctional Institutions, 2008-09; Maryland Council for New Americans, 2008-09; Task Force to Study How to Improve Financial Literacy in the State, 2009; Small Business Task Force, 2009. Chair, Joint Enforcement Task Force on Workplace Fraud, 2009.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1988-1995 (chair, interagency worker exploitation task force).

Special Counsel to U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, 1995-98.

Director, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999-2001.

Presidential Elector, Maryland, 2004.

President, Montgomery County Council, December 7, 2004 to December 6, 2005 (member, representing district 5, 2002-05).

Member, Agency Review Team, Obama-Biden Transition, 2008-09.

Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, October 2009 to July 2013.

U.S. Secretary of Labor, July 23, 2013 to January 20, 2017.

Born in Buffalo, New York. October 7, 1961. Brown University, A.B. (international relations & political science), 1983; Harvard Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1987; John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, M.P.P. (public policy), 1987. Law clerk to Judge Zita L. Weinshienk, U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, 1987-89. Admitted to Maryland Bar, 2001. Assistant Professor, 2001-06, Associate Professor, 2006-, and Director, Clinical Law Programs, University of Maryland School of Law, 2001-06. Professor (part-time), School of Public Health, George Washington University. Member, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Board of Directors, Casa of Maryland, 1995-2002 (former president). Member, Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Health Professions, 2003-04. Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership, Aspen Institute, 2005. Public Policy Conflict Resolution Fellow, Center for Dispute Resolution, University of Maryland School of Law, 2007. Chair, Democratic National Committee, 2017-21. Partner, Venable LLP, 2021-. Phyllis Campbell Newsome Public Policy Leadership Award, Center for Nonprofit Advancement, 2005. Influential Marylanders in Civic Leadership, Daily Record, 2008, 2014. Honorary Doctor of Laws, Brown University, 2014. Honorary Doctor of Laws, Drexel University School of Law, 2014. Honorary Doctor of Humanities, Oberlin College, 2014. Completed three Boston Marathons. Married; three children.

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