Dorcas Hardy
Dorcas R. Hardy (born 1946) is a former Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. She served in this position under President Ronald Reagan from 1986 to 1989. Hardy also served as Assistant Secretary for Health of the California Health and Welfare Agency (1973-1974) and as Assistant Secretary for Human Development Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1981-1986).[1] As of 2013, she serves on the seven-member Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB). The SSAB advises the President, the U.S. Congress, and the Social Security Commissioner on policies for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income.[2]
Early Life and Education
Hardy was born in Newark, New Jersey on July 18, 1946. She graduated from Miss Beard's School in Orange, New Jersey (now Morristown-Beard School) in 1964. Hardy completed her bachelor's degree at Connecticut College in 1968 and her master's of business administration degree at Pepperdine University in 1976. She then finished the Executive Program in Health Policy and Financial Management at Harvard University.[3]
Commmittee Leadership and University Positions
Hardy ran the Health Services Industry Committee of the Cost of Living Council as its executive director from 1971 to 1973. From 1974 to 1981, she served as the Associate Director of the Center for Health Services Research at the University of Southern California. Hardy chaired the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Task Force on Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment in 2004 and the Policy Committee of the White House Conference on Aging in 2005.[4]
Corporate work and board service
Hardy served as Chairman and CEO of Work Recovery Inc., a rehabilitation technology firm in Tucson, Arizona. She hosted Financing Your Future, a weekly television program that aired in primetime on Financial News Network and UPI Broadcasting. Hardy also hosted The Senior American, a political magazine TV show that aired on NET. In 2011, she received appointment to the Board of Visitors of the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA. Hardy has also served on the Board of Directors of First Coast Service Options Inc., a Medicare contractor, Wright Investors Service Managed Fund, and Options Clearing Corporation.[5]
Honors and awards
The National Coalition of Hispanic Mental Health and Human Services awarded Hardy their National Humanitarian Award. National Hispanic University in East San Jose, California awarded her their Thomas Rivera Award.