US President-elect, Joe Biden has appointed Nigerian-born attorney, Adewale ‘Wally’ Adeyemo, as Deputy Treasury Secretary. Adeyemo will serve under former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who Biden plans to appoint to lead the US Treasury Department.
Born in Nigeria, Adeyemo was raised in California where he obtained a bachelor’s degree before proceeding to Yale Law School for his legal education. Before his appointment into the Obama administration, Adeyemo worked as an editor at the Hamilton Project, then served as senior advisor and deputy chief of staff to Jack Lew in the United States Department of Treasury.
He joined the Obama Foundation in August 2019 as its first president. During the tenure of President Barack Obama, Adeyemo was the deputy director of the National Economic Council; The assistant secretary for international markets and development at the Treasury Department; deputy chief of staff of the Treasury Department in 2012; Chief of staff of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for 16 months, starting in 2010.
Sharing the good news on Twitter, he wrote;
“Public service is about offering hope through the dark times and making sure that our economy works not just for the wealthy, but for the hard-working people who make it run.
As Deputy Treasury Secretary, I look forward to helping us build back our economy better.“
Public service is about offering hope through the dark times and making sure that our economy works not just for the wealthy, but for the hard-working people who make it run.
As Deputy Treasury Secretary, I look forward to helping us build back our economy better.
— Wally Adeyemo (@wallyadeyemo) November 30, 2020