Richard Cordray

Richard Adams Cordray (born May 3, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who is the outgoing COO of Federal Student Aid in the United States Department of Education. He served as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from 2012 to 2017. Before that, Cordray variously served as Ohio's attorney general, solicitor general, and treasurer. He was the Democratic nominee for governor of Ohio in 2018. The Biden administration has announced Cordray's departure in June 2024 following a chaotic rollout of changes to the FAFSA student aid application form.

Cordray was raised near Columbus, Ohio and attended Michigan State University. He was subsequently a Marshall Scholar at Brasenose College, Oxford and then attended the University of Chicago Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the ''Law Review''. In 1987 he became a five-time ''Jeopardy!'' champion.

Cordray was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1990. After redistricting, Cordray decided to run for the United States House of Representatives in 1992 but was defeated. The following year he was appointed by the Ohio Attorney General as the first Solicitor General of Ohio. His experience as Solicitor led to his appearance before the United States Supreme Court to argue six cases. Following Republican victories in Ohio statewide elections in 1994, Cordray left his appointed position and entered the private practice of law. While in private practice he unsuccessfully ran for Ohio Attorney General in 1998 and the United States Senate in 2000. He was elected Franklin County treasurer in 2002 and reelected in 2004 before being elected Ohio State Treasurer in 2006.

Cordray was elected Ohio Attorney General in November 2008 to fill the remainder of the term ending in January 2011. In 2010, Cordray lost his bid for reelection to former U.S. Senator Mike DeWine. He became Director of the CFPB via recess appointment in July 2011 and was confirmed by the Senate in 2013. Cordray left the agency in late 2017 to run for governor of Ohio, an election he lost to DeWine. In 2021, Cordray was named to head Federal Student Aid, where he has overseen student loan forgiveness for 3.6 million Americans. Provided by Wikipedia