Richard Ravitch

Richard Ravitch is a lawyer/businessman/public official who has been engaged in both private and public business for more than 50 years. He began his career in the construction business as a principal of the HRH Construction Corporation. There he was responsible, among other things, for supervising the development, financing and construction of over 45,000 units of affordable housing in New York, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and other locations. In 1975, he was appointed by Governor Hugh Carey to serve as Chairman of the New York State Urban Development Corporation (�UDC�), a �moral obligation� financing and development agency with 30,000 dwelling units under construction, which had become insolvent and faced the first municipal bankruptcy since the 1930�s. Later in 1975 and during the following year Mr. Ravitch assisted New York City and State officials in resolving the City�s defaults. In 1979, Mr. Ravitch was appointed Chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (�MTA�), New York�s regional urban and suburban transportation system. MTA�s responsibilities include operation of the New York City subways and buses, the Long Island Railroad and MetroNorth commuter lines, and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. Mr. Ravitch completely reorganized the MTA and its functions. His restructuring changes and innovations included recruiting operating officials from the private sector with experience in marketing as well as management and operations. He developed a long-term capital plan and budget for a system wide upgrading of operating equipment, roadbed and signal capabilities, and he designed the financing plan for such improvements. For his MTA work, he was awarded the American Public Transit Association�s Individual of the Year Award in 1982. Following his MTA service, Mr. Ravitch led an effort to recapitalize The Bowery Savings Bank, once the nation�s largest mutual savings bank, involving his arranging for its acquisition from FDIC by an investor group and his serving as Chairman and CEO. Subsequently, Mr. Ravitch was retained by the owners of the Major League Baseball clubs to serve as President of the Player Relations Committee to advise them on the creation of a revenue sharing plan and proposal to the players. In 1999, Congress created the Millennial Housing Commission to examine the federal government�s role in meeting the nation�s growing affordable housing challenges. Mr. Ravitch was appointed to serve as Co-Chair of the Commission which led a diverse group to rethink America�s affordable housing policy. Mr. Ravitch recently served as Lieutenant Governor of the State of New York.Mr. Ravitch is currently co-chairing the State Budget Crisis Task Force with former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul A. Volcker.Mr. Ravitch is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Columbia College and received his LLB from Yale University School of Law.