Michael Barr

Senior Fellow

Michael S. Barr is a Senior Fellow at American Progress and a professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School.

He served from 2009-2010 as the U.S. Department of the Treasury's assistant secretary for financial institutions. Barr was a key architect of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and played a central role in the administration’s housing finance policies.

At Michigan, Barr teaches financial institutions and international financial regulation, among other courses. Barr conducts large-scale empirical research regarding financial services and writes about a wide range of issues in financial regulation. Recent books include Insufficient Funds and Building Inclusive Financial Systems. Barr is a contributor for CNBC and a frequent commentator on financial and housing issues.

Barr previously served as Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin's special assistant, as deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury, as special advisor to President William J. Clinton, as special advisor and counselor on the policy planning staff at the State Department, and as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter and Judge Pierre N. Leval of the Southern District of New York.

He received his J.D. from Yale Law School, an M. Phil in International Relations from Magdalen College, Oxford University, as a Rhodes Scholar, and his B.A., summa cum laude, with Honors in History, from Yale University.