Faculty

Dr. Barr is the Frank Murphy Colleagiate Professor of Public Policy and Roy F. and Jean Humphrey Proffitt Professor of Law. Previously, he served as the Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and was the founder and faculty director of the University of Michigan’s Center on Finance, Law & Policy. Barr conducts large-scale empirical research regarding financial services and writes about a wide range of issues in financial regulation. Recent books include “Financial Regulation: Law and Policy,” “No Slack,” “Insufficient Funds” and “Building Inclusive Financial Systems.” He served from 2009-10 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 of 2010, and played a central role in the Obama Administration’s housing finance policies. He 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.

Barr is currently on leave from the Ford School, serving as a governor and the vice chair for supervision on the Federal Reserve Board.

J.D. Yale University; M.Phil. Oxford University; B.A. Yale University