Article by Ann Manser
Infographic by Lucas Emory
September 12, 2017
Biden Institute policy discussion features prominent panelists
The University of Delaware’s Biden Institute
will hold a roundtable discussion, hosted by former Vice President
Joseph R. Biden Jr. and featuring several prominent participants, from
4-5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 19, in Mitchell Hall on the University’s
Newark campus.
Titled “Choosing a Future of Quality Jobs,” the discussion will
address the opportunities and challenges posed by transformations in the
U.S. economy and how quality jobs can be created to support a growing
middle class.
The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required, at this website.
Biden and UD President Dennis Assanis will welcome panelists and the audience to the event. Participants are:
Byron Auguste, president and co-founder of Opportunity@Work, a
civic enterprise that aims to rewire the U.S. labor market in ways that
enable more Americans to achieve upward mobility, and a former National
Economic Council adviser in the Obama-Biden administration;
Elaine Chao, U.S. secretary of transportation and former secretary of labor from 2001-09;
Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees
International Union, which represents some 2 million workers in fields
such as health care, property services and public service;
Jim Murren, chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International,
which encompasses 27 hotel properties and is expanding in the U.S. and
globally; and
Penny Pritzker, chairman of PSP Capital Partners and Pritzker
Realty Group, a global private investment firm, and former U.S.
secretary of commerce.
About the Biden Institute
The Sept. 19 roundtable is the kick-off event for the Biden
Institute’s semester-long policy focus on jobs and the economy, which is
expected to conclude with the release of proposed policy solutions.
Issues to be addressed include the impact of automation and other
technology on U.S. labor markets, the growth of the gig economy and how
workers in the future can obtain quality jobs with a living wage.
Each semester, the institute plans to focus on a specific area of
policy, with a goal of shaping the public conversation in that area and
affecting policymaking at the local, state and federal levels. A
high-profile event will be held early each semester to introduce that
policy focus.
The institute, housed in the College of Arts and Sciences’ School of Public Policy and Administration,
is a research and policy center, focusing on solutions to issues
ranging from economic reform and environmental sustainability to civil
rights, criminal justice, women’s rights and more.
Biden—the 47th vice president of the United States, a U.S. senator
from Delaware for 36 years, and a 1965 alumnus of the University of
Delaware—serves as the institute’s founding chair, pairing his long-time
work in domestic policy issues with the University’s strengths in
public policy education and research.
