Robert J. Jackson Jr. Keynote Speaker

Robert J Jackson Jr is an accomplished lawyer, educator, and public servant with a distinguished career spanning over two decades. He has held prominent positions in government and academia, where he has made significant contributions to public policy and legal scholarship.

Jackson is a sought-after speaker and has delivered keynote addresses on a range of topics, including corporate governance, securities law, and regulatory policy. He is known for his ability to break down complex legal issues and make them accessible to a wide audience.

Prior to joining the Columbia Law faculty in 2009, Mr. Jackson worked in investment banking at Bear Stearns, specialized in executive compensation and corporate governance at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen, & Katz, and served as Deputy Director to Kenneth Feinberg at the United States Treasury. At the Treasury, he played a key role in establishing executive pay rules for corporations such as AIG, Citigroup, and General Motors following the financial crisis of 2007–08. Mr. Jackson also developed Obama administration proposals on executive compensation and corporate governance that became part of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. He testified before the Senate Banking Committee about agency shortcomings on proposed rules for bonus compensation, rules which were later amended.

Mr. Jackson’s work on executive compensation and corporate governance has earned him numerous accolades. He received the Columbia Law School 2012 Willis L.M. Reese Prize for Excellence in Teaching, and has taught abroad in China, Italy, and the Netherlands. Mr. Jackson has supervised the research of many law school students at Columbia, and has mentored postdoctoral fellows, preparing them for academia at top law schools, such as Colleen Honigsberg at Stanford Law and Joshua Mitts at Columbia Law. Other fellows who have continued into academia include James Nelson at the University of Houston Law Center and Kevin Haeberle at William & Mary Law School.

Most recently, Jackson served as a Commissioner at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 2018 to 2020, where he was a vocal advocate for investor protection and market transparency. Prior to his appointment at the SEC, he was a Professor of Law and Director of the Program on Corporate Law and Policy at Columbia Law School.

Jackson’s work has been widely cited and he has been featured in various media outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg.

Jackson’s speaking credentials include delivering keynote addresses at the International Corporate Governance Network Annual Conference and the Harvard Law School Program on Corporate Governance. He has also spoken at various industry events and academic conferences.