Brooksley Born, Chairperson
Brooksley Born was sworn in as a Commissioner and the seventh Chairperson of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in August 1996. Prior to joining the CFTC, Ms. Born was a partner at the Washington, D.C., firm of Arnold & Porter where she had practiced since 1965. Ms. Born specialized in representing institutional and corporate clients in complex litigation, primarily in the federal courts, and in futures regulation matters. From 1964 to 1965, she served as law clerk to Judge Henry W. Edgerton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In addition, Ms. Born served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center from 1972 to 1973 and as a Lecturer at Law at Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America, from 1972 to 1974. She was a legal researcher at Harvard Law School from 1967 to 1968.
Ms. Born is an active member of the District of Columbia Bar and the American Bar Association (ABA), having served on their Boards of Governors. In the ABA, she has chaired the Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, the Consortium on Legal Services and the Public, the Council of the Fund for Justice and Education, the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, and the Program Committee of the Board of Governors. She currently serves in the ABA's House of Delegates as the State Delegate from the District of Columbia.
Ms. Born is a member of the Boards of Directors of the American Bar Foundation and the National Women's Law Center. She has also served on the Boards of the Women's Bar Foundation, the Center for Law and Social Policy, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, the Southwestern Legal Foundation and the American Judicature Society. She is a member of the American Law Institute. She received the Woman Lawyer of the Year Award from the Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia in 1981 and has also been honored for her public service by the National Women's Law Center, the National Association of Public Interest Law, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, and the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association.
A native of San Francisco, California, Ms. Born received her A.B. degree from Stanford University in 1961 and her Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School in 1964. She was President of the Stanford Law Review, was elected to the Order of the Coif and received the Outstanding Senior Award in 1964. She is married to Alexander Bennett and has two children and three step-children.
John E. Tull, Jr., Commissioner
John E. Tull, Jr. was nominated to be a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission by President Bill Clinton on November 5, 1993. Following confirmation by the Senate, he was sworn in on November 24, 1993, for a term expiring April 15, 1998.
Prior to joining the CFTC, Mr. Tull owned and operated a diversified farming operation in his hometown of Lonoke, Arkansas, which produces rice, soybeans, corn, and wheat and raises cattle. In addition to farming, Commissioner Tull traded the rice contract as a licensed floor broker at the New Orleans Commodity Exchange and the Mid-America Commodity Exchange, and he was later a member of the Chicago Board of Trade's Rice Working Group.
His active involvement in agriculture led to his association with numerous agricultural organizations. Mr. Tull has served as Member and Chairman of the Arkansas State Plant Board, Board Member of the U.S. Rice Foundation, President and Board Member of both the Arkansas and National Rice Councils, and Chairman and Board Member of the European Subcommittee of the National Rice Council.
He has held the positions of President of the Arkansas Seed Growers Association, President and Board Member of the Arkansas Cattlemen's Association, Vice President of the Arkansas Soybean Association, and Chairman of the Governor's Rail Safety Committee. He also served on the Advisory Board for Agriculture to the University of Arkansas College of Agriculture, Board Member of the Bayou Meto Irrigation District, and Member of the Advisory Board of the First Commercial Bank of Cabot, Arkansas. In 1996, Commissioner Tull was inducted into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame.
Mr. Tull received a B.S. in Commerce from the University of North Carolina. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and the Korean Conflict and ended his military service with the rank of Lieutenant. Mr. Tull and his wife, Mary, have three children and eight grandchildren.
Barbara P. Holum, Commissioner
Barbara Pedersen Holum was nominated to be a Commissioner of the CFTC by President Clinton on November 8, 1993, was confirmed by the Senate on November 19, 1993, and was sworn in on November 28, 1993. On December 23, 1993, she was elected by seriatim order of the Commission to serve as Acting Chairman. Ms. Holum served in this capacity until October 12, 1994. She was appointed Chairman of the Advisory Committee on CFTC-State Cooperation on March 14, 1994, and appointed Chairman of the Global Markets Advisory Committee on March 10, 1998. Commissioner Holum was confirmed by the Senate on July 31, 1998, and sworn in on August 4, 1998, to serve a second term as Commissioner at the CFTC.
Prior to joining the CFTC, Ms. Holum was President of the National Agricultural Lands Center, a non-profit private organization which administers agricultural resource conservation programs and projects. Ms. Holum's government posts include the Director of Congressional Liaison for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission during President Carter's administration and Congressional Liaison Officer for the National Agricultural Lands Study.
Ms. Holum was raised in Boelus, Nebraska, where her family operated a dairy farm. She attended the University of Nebraska and the University of Denver. Ms. Holum and her husband, John, reside in Annapolis, Maryland.
David D. Spears, Commissioner
David D. Spears was sworn in as a Commissioner of the CFTC on September 1, 1996. Mr. Spears was nominated by President Clinton on May 3, 1996, and confirmed by the Senate on August 2, 1996, for a term expiring in April 2000. A native of Wichita, Kansas, Mr. Spears received his B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics from Kansas State University in 1979.
After graduating from college, he joined the lending division of the Wichita Bank for Cooperatives, which finances agricultural cooperatives and agribusiness in the four-state region of Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and New Mexico. From 1979 to 1989, Commissioner Spears worked at the bank (later "Cobank") as, among other positions, Assistant Vice President, responsible for supervising the delivery of financial services and products to Cobank's customers. During this period, Commissioner Spears also served on various bank management, advisory and loan committees.
During the seven years prior to joining the CFTC, Commissioner Spears held several senior staff positions with the office of Senator Bob Dole. Starting in 1989, he was a legislative assistant to the Senator in Washington, D.C., specializing in agriculture, credit and trade issues. In this regard, Commissioner Spears had primary responsibility for advising Senator Dole on agriculture and agricultural trade policy, including the 1990 Farm Bill and other credit and trade legislation.
From July 1992 through June 1996, Commissioner Spears served as State Director for Senator Dole in Wichita, Kansas. In this capacity, he represented the Senator at events and forums throughout the state and managed the Senator's staff in offices located in Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita.
James E. Newsome, Commissioner
James E. Newsome was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 31, 1998, to be a Commissioner of the CFTC. He was sworn in on August 10, 1998, to a term expiring in June 2001.
Prior to joining the CFTC, Mr. Newsome served nine years as Executive Vice President of the Mississippi Cattlemen's Association and Beef Council. Additionally, he served as Chairman of the Mississippi Agribusiness Council, which is devoted to the development of domestic and international agribusiness opportunities within the state of Mississippi. Mr. Newsome was an instructor in the Animal Science Department at Mississippi State University, where he taught classes in livestock selection and management from 1986-1989.
His involvement in agriculture led to his association with numerous organizations in both Mississippi and his home state of Florida. Mr. Newsome has served as President of the Association of Mississippi Agriculture Organizations; Governor's Task Force on the Future of Mississippi Agriculture; Governor's Task Force on the Future of Florida's Small Farms; Board Member of the North American Limousin Cattle Foundation; Mississippi Delegate to the National Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching; President of the Florida FFA; Board Member of both the Mississippi 4-H and FFA Foundations; and President of the University of Florida Agriculture Council.
In addition, Mr. Newsome has been active in Rotary International, Ducks Unlimited, and the Alpha Gamma Rho Alumni Association.
As a native of Plant City, Florida, Mr. Newsome received his B.S. degree in Food and Resource Economics from the University of Florida in 1982 and his M.S. degree in Agriculture from Mississippi State University in 1985. He is married to the former Mary Margaret Pomeroy of Carmel Valley, California, and they have two daughters.