Social Security Pioneers: Women

The history of Social Security in the Untied States is replete with the influence of amazing women. This post pays tribute to some of their stories.

Lavinia M. Engle (1892 - 1979)

"Miss Lavinia Engle, a pioneer in social welfare programs ... She graduated from Antioch College in 1912, and did her graduate work at Johns Hopkins University where she received her doctorate degree in political science and economics.

In 1913 Miss Engle joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association where she did public speaking, legislative work, and campaigning for the organization in an effort to integrate women into the existing political system. In the 1920's she became the Director of the Maryland League of Women voters. She also served as an elected member of the Maryland House of Delegates, where she introduced a bill for unemployment insurance.

On June 6, 1936, Miss Engle began her federal career when she joined the Social Security Board as Chief of the Division of Field Operations. In 1942 she was appointed Director of Region III in Washington, D.C. Then in 1951 she became Assistant to the Commissioner of Social Security in charge of staff development. Miss Engle held this position until 1963, when she joined the newly established Welfare Administration.

Lavinia Engle retired in 1964, after 28 years of government service." Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Mary (Molly) Williams Dewson (1874-1962)?

"Molly Dewson ... began working as a secretary of the Domestic Reform Committee of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, a social and reform club in Boston. There she conducted statistical studies of homelife that led to several articles. She also reorganized the club's employment office for domestic workers, formed social clubs for them, and taught at a school for housekeeping. In 1899, she published?The Twentieth Century Expense Book, about how to manage a household on a budget. In 1900, she left the union to set up the parole department of the Massachusetts State Industrial School for Girls. She was also the department's first superintendent. While there, she tracked the girls to understand the motives behind their delinquency and crimes, and to aid in their rehabilitation. These activities led to further articles and a presentation at the 1911 National Conference of Charities and Correction, entitled 'The Delinquent Girl on Parole.' Even before leaving the Industrial School (1912), she became involved in the minimum wage movement (1911). She was named executive secretary of the Minimum Wage Investigative Committee, which produced a report that led to Massachusetts' (and the nation's) first minimum wage law. This report brought her national recognition.

Molly Dewson was ready for a break. In 1913 she and her lifelong partner, Mary G. (Polly) Porter, moved to a dairy farm in Worcester, Massachusetts. By 1915, however, Dewson had recharged her batteries; she entered the Massachusetts suffrage movement. During World War I, both she and Porter went with the American Red Cross to France to aid war refugees. Dewson was chief of the Mediterranean Zone by war's end. After returning from Europe, Dewson worked as Florence Kelley's principal assistant in the National Consumers' League campaign for state minimum wage laws for women and children. From 1925 to 1931, Dewson served as president of the New York Consumers' League, working closely with ER [Eleanor Roosevelt], leading the lobbying effort of the Women's Joint Legislative Conference and playing a central role in the passage of a 1930 New York law limiting women to forty-eight-hour work weeks.

In 1928, Dewson entered politics more personally, organizing Democratic women for Al Smith's presidential campaign at Eleanor Roosevelt's request. She performed a similar feat for Franklin Roosevelt's 1930 gubernatorial and 1932 presidential races. Because of her work on FDR's campaigns (and ER's intense lobbying), Dewson was appointed head of the Democratic National Committee's Women's Division (DNC). She reorganized the division utterly. She found government jobs for female party workers, more than had been given to women under any previous administration. She is credited with securing the post of secretary of labor for Frances Perkins, and placing women high up in the Social Security and National Recovery Administrations. Even so, she opposed the Equal Rights Amendment. Despite this opposition, she began to push for state laws or state party rulings that would provide even representation in membership and leadership positions for women on party committees from the precinct level up. She created the Reporter Plan, which educated female party workers on New Deal programs so that they could explain them to voters. In the 1936 election, the women's division provided 90 percent of the campaign fliers the DNC produced. That same year she got a rule passed that provided for a member and an alternate for each state on the DNC Platform Committee; the rule also required that each pair be composed of one man and one woman. Dewson's organizational abilities so impressed FDR that he nicknamed her 'the little general.'

She withdrew from the women's division's day-to-day affairs in 1936 because of poor health, but continued to be available to her successors. In 1937 she again returned to active public life when she was nominated and confirmed as a member of the Social Security Board. There she set up effective systems of federal-state cooperation, an issue that had been problematic. However, she again had to step down because of illness in 1938." Source: Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project

Frances Perkins (1882-1965)

"Frances Perkins was the first woman cabinet member. As Secretary of Labor from March 1933 to July 1945, she also served longer than any other Secretary.

Her biographers justly note that she overcame the restrictions and prejudices of her era and established herself as the equal of any person, in areas then virtually dominated by men. She was an outstanding career woman, but more importantly, an outstanding individual and a public official whose work profoundly changed the lives of all Americans. She was the author of two books --?People at Work?(1934) and?The Roosevelt I Knew?(1946) -- in addition to innumerable other studies and speeches ...

Frances Perkins was named Chairman of the Committee on Economic Security, established by FDR in 1934 to investigate social insurance and report on its findings in 6 months. That report recommended unemployment insurance and old-age insurance, but omitted health insurance only because, in the words of Frances Perkins, 'the experts couldn't get through with health insurance in time to make a report on it. After the Report of the Committee, she campaigned for social security until its passage' ...

After Frances Perkins resigned as Secretary of Labor in 1945, she was quickly called back the following year to serve as one of three Federal Civil Service Commissioners, a post she held until 1952 when her husband died, and she resigned 10 days later.

Thereafter, she continued to lead an energetic life of teaching, public speaking and writing. At the age of 80 she gave a memorable speech to the employees of the Social Security Administration on?The Roots of Social Security. She lectured at Cornell University, although her health was failing, until two weeks before she died." Source:

More:

"From her earliest days in the Roosevelt cabinet, Frances Perkins was a forceful advocate for massive public works programs to bring the nation’s unemployed back to work. Within a month of Roosevelt’s inauguration, Congress enacted legislation establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps, which Roosevelt asked Perkins to implement. Roosevelt also asked her to present a plan for an emergency relief program, and she delivered a young social worker from New York named Harry Hopkins who had visited Frances in Washington with his own proposal. That proposal became embodied in the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, which Hopkins led. Before Roosevelt presented his final One Hundred Days legislation to the Congress, the National Industrial Recovery Act, Perkins convinced him to allocate $3.3 billion for public works from the moneys appropriated. Serving as a member of the Special Board for Public Works, Perkins helped to ensure that money was spent on socially useful projects: schools, roads, highway, housing projects and post offices. Public works construction employed a many as 1.5 – 2 million people in 1934 ...

In 1938, Congress enacted the Fair Labor Standards Act, also crafted with the support of Perkins, establishing a minimum wage and maximum work hours and banning child labor...

Before leaving the Department of Labor in June of 1945, Frances Perkins stood in the department’s auditorium, and while a full orchestra played, she shook the hands, and personally thanked every one, of the department’s 1800 employees." Source: Frances Perkins Center | Her Life: The Woman Behind the New Deal

Here is a link to a video that I created based on an audio recording of a speech given by Frances Perkins at the Social Security 25th anniversary ceremonies celebrated in Washington, D.C. on August 15, 1960.

Ellen S. Woodward (1887–1971)

"Ellen Woodward?a member of the State Board of Public Welfare in Mississippi before coming to Washington to serve in the Roosevelt Administration. Initially, she served as assistant to Harry Hopkins in the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, and was appointed Administrator of the new Works Progress Administration when it was created in 1935.

Coming to the Social Security Board in 1938, she would serve until the Board was abolished in 1946. She was also a member of the U.S. delegation to the U.N. Relief and Rehabilitation Administration following World War II.

After the Board was abolished, Mrs. Woodward stayed on with the Federal Security Agency and its successor, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW), serving as Director of International Relations. In 1954 she retired at the end of a 28-year career in the federal service. Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Elizabeth Wickenden (1909 – 2001)

Elizabeth "Wicky" Wickenden was a leading advocate for health care and Social Security policy. A member of an informal network that historian Edward D. Berkowitz called "the apparatus." Wickenden teamed with Arthur Altmeyer, Bob Ball, and Nelson Cruikshank, among others, who would work together in an ad hoc way to influence every piece of Social Security legislation from the 1940's to the 1980's. (Adapted from Review Of Biography Of Wilbur Cohen)

"Wickenden graduated from Vassar in 1931. She travelled and studied abroad for a year before moving to New York City where she worked for the Emergency Exchange Association. In 1933, she moved again to Washington, D.C. There she held administrative posts in a succession of New Deal agencies, beginning with the Transient Division of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). When FERA was phased out in 1935 she transferred to the Works Progress Administration where she served as the assistant to Deputy Assistant Aubrey Williams until 1938. She worked next for the National Youth Administration (1939-1940) and the Federal Security Agency’s Office of Defense, Health and Welfare Services." Source: Social Welfare History Project

"I think she has one of the best minds in the field of social welfare. I think she unquestionably has the best expository ability of anyone in the social welfare field. She's a brilliant woman with tremendous energy." Arthur Altmeyer

Interview with Elizabeth Wickenden for The Great Depression

Anna M. Rosenberg (1919 - 1983)

"Anna Rosenberg was the first woman to serve as a Regional Manager (aka, Regional Representative and as Regional Commissioner) for Social Security. She served as Regional Manager for the Bureau of Old-Age Benefits for Region II (New York) from February 1936 until May 1936, when she was elevated to the position of Regional Director for the Social Security Board. In September 1942, Mrs. Rosenberg left the Social Security Board to join the War Manpower Commission as its Regional Director, a position she held until the end of the War...

From January 1934 until she joined the Social Security Board Anna was an official with the National Recovery Administration, eventually serving as its New York state Director.

After leaving the Board Mrs. Rosenburg went on to eminence in other fields. During 1944-1945 she was President Roosevelt's, and then President Truman's, special envoy to Europe to oversee military personnel issues for these Presidents. From 1950-1953 she was an Assistant Secretary of Defense. " Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Jane Hoey (1892-1968)

"Jane Hoey was an experienced and highly-regarded expert on social welfare issues from New York State when she was asked to join the new Social Security program in 1936 to be head of the Bureau of Public Assistance ...

In her role as Bureau Director, Hoey was an aggressive advocate on behalf of the programs under her charge. She was sometimes described as 'fiery.' One of her major early tasks was to oversee the development of the various State plans under the three titles. The State plans had to be in conformance with the federal regulations promulgated by Hoey and Board and Jane Hoey had to approve a State plan before payments could be made under the Act. This sometimes led to conflicts with various State officials, just by the nature of the federal/State relationships involved, and perhaps also, in part, due to the fact that Jane Hoey was a powerful high-profile female executive in an era when it was uncommon for women to be in such roles.

In any event, Jane Hoey was generally viewed as a successful and highly-effective government executive and she ran the Bureau of Public Assistance from 1936 to 1953, when she was forced to leave her job in order to make way for a political appointee to take the position of Bureau Director. (Story of Hoey's Departure in 1953)" Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Eveline Mabel Burns (1900-1985)

"Eveline Burns was an economist and educator, teaching economics and social work at Columbia University for nearly 40 years. She was a member of the technical staff of the Committee on Economic Security (CES) in 1934, working on the Employment Opportunities group and she authored three major research papers on employment security issues for the CES.

This experience with the CES led to Dr. Burns developing a career-long interest in Social Security and she became one of the leading academic experts on the subject. She authored three important books on Social Security and was the first training consultant to the Social Security Board in early 1936. She frequently met with SSA executives and staff to conduct training and continue her teaching mission." Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Ida Craven Merriam (1905-1997)

"Ida Merriam was one of the seminal figures in the early administration of the Social Security program and was one of the most prominent women associated with the early years of the program. She started work at SSA in 1936 and was one of the many young, idealistic New Dealers who came into government service during the Roosevelt years. Dr. Merriam was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Wellesley and received a Ph.D. in economics from the Brookings Graduate School of Economics in 1928.

At SSA, Ida Merriam spent her entire career, from 1936-1972, in SSA's research and statistics bureau. She began as a researcher and rose to head the research and statistics organization at SSA. For many decades SSA's research and statistics operation was a premier one, surpassing, in its areas of expertise, any available inside or outside of government. It was Ida Merriam, along with one or two others, who shaped the research tradition at SSA.

Ida Merriam gave an extensive oral history interview in 1982 as part of the Women in the Federal Government Project. This interview is on file in the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College and in the SSA History Archives. Detailed bio of Ida Merriam" Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Maurine Mulliner (1940 -2002)

"Maurine Mulliner was the first Executive Secretary to the Social Security Board, starting in that job in February 1936. This was a key role in the early organization because Maurine was instrumental in setting up the procedures and functional arrangements for the Board's operations. She was a trusted confidant of the early executives, serving as a 'gate-keeper' controlling access to the Board and reviewing materials submitted for the Board's consideration, returning for additional work those she judged sub-par ...

Maurine began her federal career in 1932 working in the Depression-era Reconstruction Finance Corporation. By 1933, she was an aide to U.S. Senator Robert Wagner (D-NY) whom she would describe as "the man who started it all" because he introduced the Social Security bill in the Senate in 1935. In February 1936 she started her storied career with the Social Security Board. She made many significant contributions to our nation, not just in Social Security, but in many other areas as well." Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Mollie Orshansky (1915 - 2006)

In 1958, Miss Orshansky joined the Social Security Administration then part of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare as a Social Science Research Analyst in the Office of Research and Statistics where she became responsible for analytical studies to measure income adequacy, family welfare and patterns of family income.?In 1963 and 1964 she developed the poverty thresholds that later became the official measure of poverty used by the U.S. government.?The basis of her idea was to use the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet as the basis for a cost?of?living estimate and to calculate a cost of living for families of different sizes and composition.?In 1976 Miss Orshansky received the Distinguished Service Award from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in recognition for her leadership in creating the first nationally accepted measures of income adequacy and applying them to public policy.

The contributions made by Miss Orshansky to the statistical measurement of the low income population, and its causal effects of Federal programs on that population have earned her the affectionate moniker, 'Miss Poverty.'

Mollie Orshansky retired from the Social Security Administration in 1982, after more than 40 years of government service." Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Mary E. Ross (1939 - 2001)

Mary E. Ross, a career employee for 34 years of the Social Security Administration, mostly spent as a Senior Executive and Director of the Legislative Reference Office of the Social Security Administration. Larry DeWitt, SSA Historian, wrote of Ms. Ross in 2001, "Mary was intellectually intense, with a career-long habit of painstakingly researching and documenting her ideas and conclusions. Her office at SSA, and her home as well, were filled with books, reports, research papers, and the like, which she would consult in detail whenever she faced any task of work."

"Ms Ross was a Senior Executive and Director of the Legislative Reference Office of the Social Security Administration.

Born in Philadelphia, Ms. Ross came to Washington as a child with her parents. Her mother was Elizabeth Ross, Deputy Director of the Children's Bureau. Among her mother's federal accomplishments was the securing of government recognition of professional social work. Her father, Michael Ross, born in England, was active in the labor movement in England and became Director of International Affairs for the CIO. Both are deceased.

A graduate of Madeira School and of Wellesley College, Ms. Ross began her government career as a student intern with the Social Security Administration in 1959. Following her graduation from Wellesley College in 1960, she was appointed to the position of Social Insurance Research Analyst in SSA's legislative planning department and, from 1968 to her retirement in 1994, played a key role in the planning of major changes and improvements in the Social Security program, particularly in the areas of retirement and survivors benefits. She was appointed to a Career Executive Assignment in October 1972 while serving as Director of the Division of Retirement and Survivors Benefits in the Office of Program Evaluation and Planning." Source: Ms. Ross' obituary in the Washington Post of March 16, 2001, and Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Oveta Culp Hobby (1905 - 1995)

"Journalist, politician, and civil servant, Oveta Culp Hobby worked to better her community and her country throughout her lifetime. She is best known for serving as the director of the Women’s Army Corps and as the first secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

Oveta Culp Hobby was born on January 19, 1905 in Killeen, Texas to Isaac William Culp and Emma Elizabeth Hoover. Hobby’s father was a lawyer and state legislator, who instilled in her an interest in law and politics from a young age.

She graduated from Temple High School and went on to attend classes at what is now known as the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor for two years, but she did not complete her studies. In 1925, Hobby was asked to work as a legislative parliamentarian in the Texas House of Representatives, which she carried out until 1931. At the same time, she attended classes in law at the University of Texas, but never completed her degree.

Hobby also became involved in a number of political activities in the 1920s. She helped organize the National Democratic Convention in Houston in 1928, and worked on Thomas T. Connally’s US Senate campaign. She also ran for the Texas state legislature, but did not win.

In the 1930s and onwards, Hobby started working in the publishing world on her husband, former Governor of Texas William P. Hobby’s newspaper?The Post?in Houston. She held a number of positions within the paper including book editor and executive vice president. In 1937, she wrote and published a book,?Mr. Chairman, about her activities at the Texas state legislature.

World War II brought changes to Hobby’s life. From 1941 to 1942, she served as the head of the Women’s Interest Section in the War Department Bureau of Public Relations. In this role, she investigated ways in which women could serve their country and laid the groundwork for them to do so by the time that the US entered the war.

After war was declared in December 1941, the country mobilized its troops. Discussions also began in the government about the possibility of women serving in the military. Congress passed a bill which created the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) in May 1942. Hobby became the first director of the WAAC. In 1943, she obtained the rank of colonel, when the WAAC became integrated into the army, changing its name to the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). She remained the director of the WAC throughout the war. For her dedication and effective supervision of the WAC, Hobby was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for outstanding service by the army in January 1945. She was the first woman in the Army to receive this award, which was the highest non-combat award given by the military at that time.

Hobby resigned from the WAC in July 1945, but continued to lead an active work life. She returned to?The Post?as its executive vice president. She also sat on a number of charity boards including: the American Red Cross, and the American Cancer Society.

Hobby maintained her interest in politics and political causes. During Republican candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidential campaign, Hobby actively supported his bid for office. After Eisenhower became president in 1953, he appointed Hobby chairman of the Federal Security Agency (FSA), which oversaw public health, education, and social security funding. In April 1953, Eisenhower created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and abolished the FSA. In the process, he named Hobby as the first secretary of the new department. In this role, she worked on matters related to health, education, and educational funding. During her time as secretary at the department, she helped plan for the first distribution of the newly created polio vaccination in the United States in 1955. She stepped down from the job in 1955.

Throughout the rest of her life, Hobby continued to hold a number of positions in publishing and public service. Her other activities included sitting on the board of Rice University and serving on the National Advisory Commission on Selective Service at the request of President Lyndon B. Johnson." Source: National Women’s History Museum?

Martha A. McSteen (1923 - 1983)

Martha McSteen joined Social Security in 1947 as a claims representative in Wichita Falls, Texas. For the next 18 years she held increasingly responsible field positions, including District Manager, before being selected as the Regional Representative for Health Insurance in Denver, Colorado in 1965. In 1968, Mrs. McSteen was chosen as one of the first participants in SSA's Executive Development program. After completing that program she held a number of high level SSA management positions prior to her appointment as Dallas Regional Commissioner in 1976. In 1983 she became the first woman to hold SSA's top position when she was named Acting Commissioner of Social Security. Mrs. McSteen occupied this position until 1986 when she retired after being succeeded by a Presidentially appointed Commissioner. Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Dorcas R. Hardy (1946 - 2019)

"From the earliest days of her career, Dorcas championed for improved healthcare management. In 1973, then Governor Ronald Reagan rewarded her work when he appointed Dorcas the Assistant Secretary for Health at the California Health and Welfare Agency. Subsequently, on March 20, 1986, President Ronald Reagan nominated Dorcas as the tenth Commissioner of Social Security (COSS). She became the?first?confirmed female Commissioner in agency history, serving from June 26, 1986 to July 31, 1989.

During her roughly one thousand days as COSS, she was a trailblazer, who spearheaded several significant initiatives, that included the development and launch of the federal government’s first national 1-800 number, the Enumeration at Birth program, Computer Systems Modernization, the agency’s first strategic plan, and the Personal Earnings and Benefits Estimate Statement (PEBES).

The 1-800 number improved customer service by offering beneficiaries an alternative to visiting field offices when seeking general information. The Enumeration at Birth program provided new parents with the convenience to apply for a Social Security Number for their newborn from the comfort of the hospital. With the PEBES program, people could now have their projected benefits mailed to their home.

During her tenure as Commissioner, Dorcas increased public outreach, encouraged computer innovation, and strived to improve customer service to millions of beneficiaries. She was truly a pioneer in Social Security history. She believed strongly in efficiency in government, and said, “The business of government should be businesslike.

Dorcas stayed very active after her service as COSS. She co-authored a book with her father on improving Social Security, hosted a weekly cable television program, ran a consulting firm, and continued her lifelong work with the Girl Scouts of America. From 2002 to 2016, she served on the Social Security Advisory Board, becoming its longest serving member." Source: Social Security Matters

Gwendolyn S. King

Gwendolyn King joined the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare in 1971 as a management intern, and by the time she left that organization in 1976 she had achieved the position of Senior Health Desk Officer. From 1976 to 1978 she was Director, Division of Consumer Complaints for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 1978 she became Senior Legislative Assistant to Senator John Heinz. From 1979 to 1986 Mrs. King worked as Director of then Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh's Washington, D.C. office. From 1986 to 1988, she served in the White House as Deputy Assistant to President Reagan, and Director, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. In 1988, Mrs. King joined Gogol & Associates, Inc. as its Executive Vice President, a position she held until 1989 when she was appointed Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. Mrs. King resigned as SSA Commissioner in 1992 to take a senior vice president position with the Philadelphia Electric Company. Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Shirley Sears Chater

Shirley S. Chater became Commissioner of Social Security on October 8, 1993. Commissioner Chater, brought a lifetime of leadership and public service experience to this position. She came to the SSA from?Texas Woman's University, where she served as President from 1986 to 1993. Among her other positions she served as an associate with the?American Council on Education, and as senior associate of the?AGB (Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges)?from 1984 to 1986. She was Vice Chancellor for academic affairs at the?University of California, San Francisco, held faculty appointments in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Nursing, at the University of California-San Francisco and in the School of Education at the?University of California, Berkeley. Commissioner Chater has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the?National Academy of Sciences. She is a member of the?National Academy of Public Administration?and the?National Academy of Social Insurance. Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Jo Anne B. Barnhart

"Jo Anne Barnhart was the Commissioner of Social Security from July 17, 2001 through January 19, 2007.

• Nominated by President George W. Bush:?July 17, 2001
• Confirmed by the United States Senate:?November 2, 2001
• Sworn-in formally in Washington:?November 9, 2001
• Sworn-in ceremonially at a public event in Baltimore:?November 14, 2001

As head of the Social Security Administration (SSA), she has responsibility for administering Social Security programs (retirement, survivors and disability), as well as the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.

Social Security provides financial protection to more than 158 million workers and their families, and more than 48 million Americans receive monthly Social Security retirement, disability or survivors benefits. The SSI program pays monthly benefits to more than 7 million Americans who have little or no resources and who are aged, blind or disabled.

The 65,000-person independent federal agency is headquartered in suburban Baltimore, with offices in Washington, D.C., and in 1,500 other locations nationwide.

Before her appointment by President Bush, Commissioner Barnhart served for more than four years as a member of the Social Security Advisory Board, an independent body created to advise the Congress on Social Security issues and policies.

A former SSA employee, Ms. Barnhart worked in the Office of Family Assistance from 1981-1986, first as Deputy Associate Commissioner and then as Associate Commissioner. She served as minority staff director for the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs from 1986-1990. From 1990-1993, she served as Assistant Secretary for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services, overseeing more than 65 programs, including Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

During her career, Ms. Barnhart has served as Senator William V. Roth, Jr.'s legislative assistant (1977-1981) and as his campaign manager (1988, 1994 and 2000), and managed her own political and public policy consulting firm." Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Yvette S. Jackson

"On Sept. 2, 1997, Yvette Jackson was appointed the Administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Consumer Service (FCS). FCS oversees federal nutrition assistance programs.

Jackson is the first African-American to head the Food and Consumer Service. Since 1994, she has served as the agency's Deputy Administrator in charge of the Food Stamp Program. As FCS Administrator, Jackson oversaw USDA's 15 nutrition assistance programs, including the School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children -- the WIC program -- and the Food Stamp Program. As FCS Administrator, she managed an agency budget of $40 billion and a staff of 1,700." Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Susan Daniels

"Susan Daniels is a nationally recognized expert and spokesperson on employment and disability policy. She has 25 years of executive experience in leading Federal agencies, academic institutions and philanthropic organizations through development, change and innovation...

Susan Daniels is a nationally recognized expert and spokesperson on employment and disability policy. She has 25 years of executive experience in leading Federal agencies, academic institutions and philanthropic organizations through development, change and innovation." Source: National Academy of Social Insurance

Ruth A. Pierce

“Ruth A. Pierce joined the Social Security Administration as a Claims Representative in Los Angeles. She served as finance management branch chief Bureau Retirement and Survivors Insurance, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, 1974-1977; assistant director foreign operations, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, 1977-1978; deputy associate commissioner for central operations, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, 1981-1983; acting associate commissioner for retirement and survivors insurance, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, 1983; executive staff director to acting commissioner, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, 1983-1984; associate commissioner for central operations, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, 1984-1988; associate deputy commissioner for regional operations, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, 1988-1990; deputy commissioner for human resources, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, since 1990; assistant director for program management, Office Program Management, Washington, 1978-1980. Instructor Office Program Management Seminars, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.” Source: World Biographical Encyclopedia, Inc.

Linda S. McMahon

Linda S. McMahon became Acting Commissioner of Social Security on January 20, 2007, serving until February 11, 2007.

Ms. McMahon was formerly the Deputy Commissioner for Operations, a position she held since November 18, 2001. She provided leadership for more than 64,500 employees in 1300 field offices, 36 teleservice centers, 7 Processing Centers, 53 Disability Determinations Services and 38 Foreign Benefit Units. She directed an annual budget of $5.9 billion.

Prior to becoming Deputy Commissioner for Operations, Ms. McMahon was the Regional Commissioner of the San Francisco Region. She held this position from February 10, 1991 through November 17, 2001. As the principal Social Security Administration official for Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and the Pacific Area, she provided leadership for the effective operation of all Social Security programs within the region. She directed 6,700 employees at regional and field facilities including the Western Program Service Center and managed an annual administrative budget in excess of $352 million. Over 7 million people in Region IX receive approximately $67.7 billion in Social Security payments each year. Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Carolyn Watts Colvin?

Carolyn Colvin?became the Acting Commissioner of Social Security,?a position she held until January 20, 2017. Acting Commissioner Colvin received her Bachelor of Science and Master’s degree in business administration from?Morgan State University?in Baltimore. Before joining Social Security, Carolyn Colvin worked for the?Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development Human Resources?and?Baltimore City Health Department. She joined the state government in 1988 as Deputy Secretary in the?Maryland Department of Human Resources, becoming the Secretary in 1989. Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Nancy A. Berryhill

Nancy A. Berryhill, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. Previously, Ms. Berryhill served as the Deputy Commissioner for Operations, Social Security’s largest component. Prior to that position, Ms. Berryhill served two years as the agency’s Regional Commissioner for the Chicago Region and five years as Regional Commissioner for the Denver Region. Ms. Berryhill began her Social Security career as a GS-2 student employee. In her 40 years at the agency, she has held many frontline positions, including Claims Clerk, Service Representative, Claims Representative, Operations Supervisor, District Manager, and Area Director for the State of Illinois. Source: Social Security History (ssa.gov)

Kilolo Kijakazi

Dr. Kilolo Kijakazi is the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA).

Prior to her appointment as Acting Commissioner under the Social Security Act, Dr. Kijakazi served as the Deputy Commissioner for Retirement and Disability Policy at SSA from January 2021- July 2021. During her time as Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Kijakazi advised the Commissioner on policy issues and was responsible for planning and managing the development of program policy, policy research and evaluation, and statistical programs to inform programs administered by SSA. These programs include Retirement and Survivors Insurance, Disability Insurance, and Supplemental Security Income. Source: https://www.ssa.gov/agency/commissioner/

?More Social Security Administration history: https://lnkd.in/e7aYDjRe & ??

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