Richard Cordray

Richard Cordray
Cordray in 2021
Chief Operating Officer of Federal Student Aid
Assumed office
May 3, 2021
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byMark Brown
1st Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
In office
January 4, 2012 – November 24, 2017
PresidentBarack Obama
Donald Trump
DeputySteve Antonakes
Meredith Fuchs (acting)
David Silberman (acting)
Leandra English
Preceded byRaj Date (special advisor)
Succeeded byKathy Kraninger
49th Attorney General of Ohio
In office
January 8, 2009 – January 10, 2011
GovernorTed Strickland
Preceded byNancy H. Rogers
Succeeded byMike DeWine
46th Treasurer of Ohio
In office
January 8, 2007 – January 7, 2009
GovernorTed Strickland
Preceded byJennette Bradley
Succeeded byKevin Boyce
Treasurer of Franklin County
In office
December 9, 2002 – January 8, 2007
Preceded byWade Steen
Succeeded byEd Leonard
1st Solicitor General of Ohio
In office
September 19, 1993 – January 6, 1995
GovernorGeorge Voinovich
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byJeffrey Sutton
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives
from the 33rd district
In office
January 7, 1991 – December 31, 1992
Preceded byDon Gilmore
Succeeded byPriscilla Mead
Personal details
Born
Richard Adams Cordray

(1959-05-03) May 3, 1959 (age 65)
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Peggy Cordray
(m. 1992)
Children2
EducationMichigan State University (BA)
Brasenose College, Oxford (MA)
University of Chicago (JD)
WebsiteCampaign website

Richard Adams Cordray (born May 3, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who is the outgoing COO of Federal Student Aid in the United States Department of Education. He served as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from 2012 to 2017. Before that, Cordray variously served as Ohio's attorney general, solicitor general, and treasurer. He was the Democratic nominee for governor of Ohio in 2018. The Biden administration has announced Cordray's departure in June 2024 following a chaotic rollout of changes to the FAFSA student aid application form.[1]

Cordray was raised near Columbus, Ohio and attended Michigan State University. He was subsequently a Marshall Scholar at Brasenose College, Oxford and then attended the University of Chicago Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. In 1987 he became a five-time Jeopardy! champion.

Cordray was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1990. After redistricting, Cordray decided to run for the United States House of Representatives in 1992 but was defeated. The following year he was appointed by the Ohio Attorney General as the first Solicitor General of Ohio. His experience as Solicitor led to his appearance before the United States Supreme Court to argue six cases. Following Republican victories in Ohio statewide elections in 1994, Cordray left his appointed position and entered the private practice of law. While in private practice he unsuccessfully ran for Ohio Attorney General in 1998 and the United States Senate in 2000. He was elected Franklin County treasurer in 2002 and reelected in 2004 before being elected Ohio State Treasurer in 2006.

Cordray was elected Ohio Attorney General in November 2008 to fill the remainder of the term ending in January 2011. In 2010, Cordray lost his bid for reelection to former U.S. Senator Mike DeWine. He became Director of the CFPB via recess appointment in July 2011 and was confirmed by the Senate in 2013.[2] Cordray left the agency in late 2017 to run for governor of Ohio,[3] an election he lost to DeWine.[4] In 2021, Cordray was named to head Federal Student Aid, where he has overseen student loan forgiveness for 3.6 million Americans.[5][6]

  1. ^ Lauren Camera (April 26, 2024). "Biden's Student Loan Chief to Step Down in June Amid FAFSA Chaos". U.S. News & World Report.
  2. ^ Elder, Steve (August 8, 2017). "Republicans Want to Sideline This Regulator. But It May Be Too Popular". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  3. ^ Richardson, Seth A. (December 5, 2017). "Richard Cordray officially enters the Ohio governor's race". The Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  4. ^ "Republican Mike DeWine elected governor of Ohio". Vox. November 6, 2018. Archived from the original on December 7, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  5. ^ Cowley, Stacy (November 11, 2023). "How Millions of Borrowers Got $127 Billion in Student Loans Canceled". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 11, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  6. ^ Cowley, Stacy (May 3, 2021). "Advocate of Revamping Student Loan System Will Head Federal Aid Office". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

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