Biden Set To Appoint Adeyemo US Deputy Treasury Secretary
United States President elect, Joe Biden, is expected to name a Nigerian born lawyer, Adewale Adeyemo as his Deputy Secretary of Treasury. Media reports quoted sources close to the Biden transition team as saying Adeyemo would serve under Janet Yellen, who would be nominated to lead the Treasury Department. Nicknamed Wally, the 39 year old has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California and Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. He served as the first President of the Obama Foundation in 2019, according to Wikipedia. Under the Obama administration, Adeyemo served as Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economics from 2015 to 2016 and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. Wally is one of three people of colour to be appointed to lead Biden’s Economic team after his first round of appointments was criticised for lack of diversity.
Born in Nigeria, Adeyemo was raised in California where he obtained a bachelor’s degree before proceeding to Yale Law School for his legal education. Before his appointment into the Obama administration, Adeyemo worked as an editor at the Hamilton Project, then served as senior advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to Jack Lew in the United States Department of Treasury. He later worked as the chief negotiator for the Trans Pacific Partnership and also served as the first chief of staff of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Elizabeth Warren. In 2015, he was appointed to concurrently serve as Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics and deputy director of the National Economic Council. He went on to become the first president of the Obama Foundation.