Robb LaKritz (born July 8, 1972) served as Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of the United States Treasury from 2001 to 2003. LaKritz is a U.S.-based real estate developer, former senior U.S. economic official and international lawyer.
| Robb LaKritz | |
|---|---|
| Advisor to the Deputy Secretary United States Treasury | |
| Appointed by | President George W. Bush |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1972 Royal Oak, Michigan |
| Residence | Washington, D.C. |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
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LaKritz was born in Royal Oak, Michigan in 1972. He is of Hungarian-Jewish descent. The eldest of three siblings and only son of a prominent Michigan attorney and former kindergarten teacher, LaKritz moved to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan at age 13 and attended Andover High School.
In 1994, LaKritz earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude and earning dual departmental honors for his work in international relations and political science. In 1992, LaKritz also studied international law and economics at Franklin College Switzerland, a Swiss college specializing in international affairs.
In 1997, LaKritz earned a J.D. from Emory University School of Law, serving as an editor of the Emory International Law Review. LaKritz also studied law at China's prestigious East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai.
In 1997, LaKritz became an attorney with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Baker Donelson, working in the firm's China practice, which included former U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger and former White House Chief of Staff and U.S. Senate Majority Leader, Howard H. Baker.
In 2001, at age 28, he was appointed by U.S. President George W. Bush to be Special Assistant and Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of the United States Treasury. At Treasury, LaKritz helped direct U.S. domestic economic policy, including U.S. banking and financial institutions policy, and U.S. international economic policy, particularly with regard to China. He represented the U.S. Treasury at the World Economic Forum in 2002, Harvard's Symposium on Building the Financial System of the 21st century, and during the 2001 and 2002 annual meetings of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Asian Development Bank. He was involved in the formation of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), a fund established by the U.S. government to reduce poverty through economic growth in some of the world's poorest countries; U.S. efforts to stem the financing of terrorism; and U.S. efforts to promote financial stability abroad. In March 2009, he was invited by the Wall Street Journal[1] to participate in its Future of Finance Initiative.
In 2003, at age 30, LaKritz founded LaKritz | Adler Investments, a privately-held group of real estate investment, development and management companies based in Washington, D.C. The firm's real estate investment and development projects include The Moderno,[2] the fastest selling condominium project of 2009 in Washington, D.C.,[3][4] The Veritas Building, One Silver Spring, Petworth Station, The Madera, The Galvin and the historic Watha T. Daniels home. The firm's activities have been profiled in the Washington Post,[5][6] Washington Times,[7] Washington Business Journal,[8][9] Washington City Paper,[10] DC Spaces Magazine, DC Modern Luxury, OnSite Magazine, and on Fox5 News.[11]
In 2009, LaKritz was named one of the most influential people under 40 in the nation's capitol by Washington Life Magazine.[12] He sits on the board of directors of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization, the 9/11 Unity Walk, an interfaith peace initiative, and International Art Affairs. He is a member of the 2008 Class of Leadership Greater Washington, District of Columbia Bar Association, Urban Land Institute, D.C. Preservation League and D.C. Building Industry Association. He is also an annual participant in the Aspen Institute Ideas Festival, TED and Renaissance Weekend.