Leadership
Acting Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs Carol Pier
![Carol Pier, Associate Deputy Under Secretary](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121018115116im_/http://www.dol.gov/ilab/images/CarolPier.jpg)
Carol Pier was sworn in as the Associate Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs at the Department of Labor on August 24, 2009. In that capacity, she assists the Deputy Undersecretary in carrying out her responsibilities.
For ten years prior to her appointment, Ms. Pier worked on labor rights and trade issues for Human Rights Watch, the largest U.S.-based non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights. She documented and reported on workers' rights violations around the world, analyzed foreign and domestic labor laws, and engaged in advocacy on labor rights and trade matters in the United States and abroad.
Ms. Pier is a graduate of Harvard Law School and holds a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.
Associate Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs Mark A. Mittelhauser
![Mark A. Mittelhauser, Associate Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121018115116im_/http://www.dol.gov/ilab/images/MarkMittelhauser.jpg)
Mark Mittelhauser was named Associate Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs on January 16, 2012. In this position, he helps to lead the Bureau of International Labor Affairs' (ILAB) efforts to promote worker rights and strengthen livelihoods globally.
Prior to this position, Mittelhauser directed the U.S. Department of State's Office of International Labor Affairs and was an adjunct faculty member of the Foreign Service Institute. Between 1999 and 2002, he served as the U.S. Labor Attaché to Brazil in the U.S. Consulate General in São Paulo, Brazil.
Mittelhauser worked previously in ILAB between 2003 and 2006, when he covered regional labor issues in the Americas and child labor programs in Asia. Between 1993 and 1999, he was a supervisory economist in the Bureau of Labor Statistics and led a team in developing employment projections for much of the U.S. manufacturing sector.
Mittelhauser received an M.A. in international development from American University and a B.S. in economics from Carnegie Mellon University.
Acting Associate Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs Eric Biel
![Eric Biel, Acting Associate Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121018115116im_/http://www.dol.gov/ilab/images/EricBiel.jpg)
Eric Biel joined the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) at the U.S. Department of Labor in February 2012. He is part of ILAB's senior leadership team, working on a diverse set of projects and activities, including supply chain issues across different sectors and submissions under the labor chapters of free trade agreements.
Before joining the Department, Biel was Managing Director for Corporate Responsibility at Burson-Marsteller, a global consulting firm. From 2003-06 he was Deputy Washington Director and Senior Counsel of Human Rights First (formerly the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights). Prior to that he was Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Fontheim International, a Washington consulting and law practice.
Biel served in senior positions at the U.S. Department of Commerce from 1997-2000, including Deputy Undersecretary for Trade Policy and Acting Director of the Office of Policy and Strategic Planning. From 1995-97, he was Director of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, a bipartisan body chaired by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. From 1990-95, he was International Trade Counsel at the Senate Finance Committee, following five years in private law practice.
Since 2008, Biel has taught a course at the Georgetown University Law Center on "Human Rights at the Intersection of Trade and Corporate Responsibility" that explores a range of business and human rights issues. He received a B.A. in history from Johns Hopkins and joint degrees in law from Yale Law School and public policy from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton.