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 Portrait Artist: Chen Yanning
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Tenure: January 29, 2001 — January 20, 2009
From Kentucky; received an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. The longest serving Secretary of Labor since World War II — and the first Asian American woman appointed to a President's Cabinet. Arriving at the age of eight from Taiwan speaking no English, Secretary Chao's experience inspired her to dedicate most of her professional life to ensuring that workers have access to opportunity and the chance to build better lives.
Appointed by President George W. Bush, during her tenure the Department updated the white collar overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which had been on the agenda of every Administration since 1977. Under her leadership, the Department set new worker protection enforcement records (including recovering record back wages for vulnerable, low-wage immigrant workers) and achieved the first major update of union financial disclosure regulations in more than 40 years. Secretary Chao presided over the first major regulatory update of the Family and Medical Leave Act in more than a decade.
Secretary Chao's extensive government service includes serving as Director of the Peace Corps — where she established the first Peace Corps programs in the Baltic nations and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. Other experience included service as Deputy Secretary of Transportation and as a White House Fellow.
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