Richard Ravitch

Richard Ravitch is a Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. A lawyer, businessman, and public official, Ravitch has led a long and illustrious career, including an appointment as Lieutenant Governor of New York from 2009 until 2010. He earned his law degree from Yale Law School, and also graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University.

In the 1970s, Ravitch negotiated long-term federal guaranty arrangements between New York City and the Ford administration to resolve the city’s defaults. He later served as chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), led efforts to recapitalize the Bowery Savings Banks, and helped found the Corporation for Supportive Housing and served as its first chairman. In 1999, Ravitch was appointed to co-chair the Millennial Housing Commission, created by Congress to examine the federal government’s role in meeting the nation’s growing affordable housing challenges. In 2008, he chaired a commission to design a plan to finance the MTA, and recently co-chaired the State Budget Crisis Task Force alongside Paul A. Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve.