President Barack Obama chose an old friend for a Cabinet position last week, tapping San Rafael native Michael Froman to be U.S. Trade Representative.
Froman, one of Obama’s classmates at Harvard Law School, has been serving as a senior economic adviser in the administration. Prior to that, he worked as an executive at Citigroup. He also played a key role in shaping the Obama administration, serving as a member of Obama’s transition team in 2008.
The trade representative performs as the administration’s top adviser and negotiator on international trade. If confirmed by the Senate, Froman would replace Ron Kirk, who stepped down in February after serving in the post throughout Obama’s first term.
In an event in the White House Rose Garden on May 2, Obama rounded out his Cabinet by also nominating Penny Pritzker as Commerce secretary. Pritzker, also Jewish, is a Hyatt hotel heiress, businesswoman and philanthropist.
Froman, 50, grew up in a neighborhood of San Rafael called Loch Lomond; his parents were founding members of Marin’s first synagogue, Congregation Rodef Sholom, 57 years ago. His father, Abe Froman, ran Braverman’s furniture store in San Anselmo until he retired in 1996.
He attended Tamalapis School for Boys, now the Branson School, and was active in BBYO, the international Jewish youth movement, throughout his youth. He eventually became its 56th Grand Aleph Godol (international president) in 1980.
Rabbi Michael Barenbaum, who served as senior rabbi at Rodef Sholom for 27 years, recalled meeting Froman when he was 15.
“Even then, he was super smart, super charismatic, very effective at anything he put his mind to,” Barenbaum told j. this week.
The rabbi, who officiated at Froman’s wedding in Boston many years later, said he has remained in close contact with Froman and had spoken to him on May 5 to congratulate him.
“It’s very nice as a rabbi when you start out as a teacher and end up having friendships with the students that you teach — and Michael’s one of those people,” he said. “He’s an outstandingly principled, decent, ethical human being, in addition to being brilliant. He has great values. And that’s what makes him as good a person to be in the Cabinet as could possibly be.”
Froman’s father and stepmother still live in Marin, and the younger Froman comes home a few times a year for visits.
Obama said Froman and Pritzker will help fulfill his top priority to grow the economy and create middle-class jobs, in part by opening new markets overseas to sell U.S. products.
Froman told the Marin Independent Journal in 2008 that he met Obama during his second year at Harvard Law School, when both men were selected to help write the Harvard Law Review.
“He was very impressive,” Froman told the IJ. “In retrospect, a lot of the same attributes and skills he demonstrates now were evident back then.”
Froman served during President Bill Clinton’s administration as chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin. He also worked as deputy assistant secretary for Eurasia and the Middle East. He holds a degree in international affairs from Princeton University and a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University, which he attended on a Fulbright scholarship.
Pritzker, 53, is a real estate developer and a major donor to the Chicago-area Jewish federation. If she is confirmed, she would be the wealthiest member of the Cabinet, with Forbes estimating her net worth at $1.85 billion and ranking her as the 277th richest American.
The National Jewish Democratic Council issued press releases after the nominations, welcoming both nominations.
The Associated Press and j. staff writer Emma Silvers contributed to this report.