Carla Anderson Hills

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Carla Anderson Hills
Carla Anderson Hills

Incumbent
Assumed office 
2007
President Richard N. Haass
Preceded by Peter George Peterson

In office
March 10, 1975 – January 20, 1977
President Gerald Ford
Preceded by James Thomas Lynn
Succeeded by Patricia Roberts Harris

In office
1989 – 1993
President George H. W. Bush
Preceded by Clayton Keith Yeutter
Succeeded by Mickey Kantor

Born January 3, 1934 (1934-01-03) (age 74)
Los Angeles, California

Carla Anderson Hills (born January 3, 1934) is an American lawyer and public figure. She served as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Gerald Ford administration, and as U.S. Trade Representative. She was the first woman to serve as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

She was the third woman to serve as a Cabinet officer in a U.S. Presidential Administration.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born in Los Angeles, she received her B.A. degree from Stanford University, after studying at Oxford University. She earned her LL.B. degree from Yale University Law School in 1958. Born Carla Anderson, she married Roderick M. Hills the same year.

[edit] Career

Mrs. Hills was admitted to the California Bar in 1959, and served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles from 1959 to 1961. From 1962 to 1974, she was a partner at Munger, Tolles, Hills, and Rickershauser of Los Angeles. In 1972, she was an adjunct professor at UCLA.

An authority on federal practice and anti-trust law, Mrs. Hills wrote of Federal Civil Practice and Antitrust Advisor. She is a former president of the National Association of Women Lawyers.

She was an United States Assistant Attorney General heading the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice before being named HUD Secretary. She was first offered an appointment as assistant U.S. Attorney General by Elliot L. Richardson in 1973, but he resigned shortly thereafter during the Watergate scandal. The offer was renewed by his successor, William B. Saxbe, in 1974.

Hills' lack of relevant experience was somewhat controversial during the appointment hearings for her nomination to head the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

From 1978 through 1989 she was again a practicing attorney, and was chairman of the Urban Institute from 1983 through 1988. Hills served as U.S. Trade Representative from 1989 to 1993 under President George Herbert Walker Bush. An advocate of free trade, she was the primary U.S. negotiator of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Since 1993 she has worked as a consultant and public speaker through Hills & Company International Consultants, which gives advice on investment, trade and risk issues abroad.

She was one of the founders of the Forum for International Policy, and she is on the Board of Directors of American International Group and Time Warner.

In 2008, Yale University granted her an honorary degree.[1]

[edit] Affiliations

[edit] References

  1. ^ Yale University gives ex-Beatle honorary doctorate in music RepublicanAmerican, 2008-05-26, retrieved 2008-05-26
  2. ^ Board of Directors, Council on Foreign Relations, retrieved 2008-05-26
  3. ^ Inter-American Dialogue BoD, dead as of 2008-05-26 archive.org, version of 2007-05-06 retrieved 2008-05-26

[edit] External links

Preceded by
James T. Lynn
U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
1975–1977
Succeeded by
Patricia R. Harris
Preceded by
Clayton K. Yeutter
United States Trade Representative
19891993
Succeeded by
Mickey Kantor