The Commissioners
Brooksley Born, Chairperson
Brooksley Born was sworn in as Chairperson by Acting Chairman John E. Tull on August 26, 1996. Ms. Born was nominated by President Clinton on May 3, 1996, and confirmed by the Senate on August 2, 1996, for a term expiring in April, 1999.
Ms. Born practiced law at the Washington, D.C., firm of Arnold & Porter from 1965 until her appointment to the CFTC. As a partner in the firm, Ms. Born specialized in representing institutional and corporate clients in complex litigation, primarily in the federal courts, and in futures regulation matters.
Ms. Born is an active member of the District of Columbia Bar and the American Bar Association (ABA), having served on the Boards of Governors of both organizations. She currently serves on the Boards of the American Bar Foundation and the National Women's Law Center.
Ms. Born was an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center in 1972-1973 and a Lecturer at Law at Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America, in 1972-1974.
A native of San Francisco, California, Ms. Born received her A.B. degree from Stanford University in 1961 and her Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School in 1964, where she was President of the Stanford Law Review. She is a member of Order of the Coif. She has also been honored by the National Association of Public Interest Law, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, and the National Women's Law Center. She received the Woman Lawyer of the Year Award from the Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia in 1981.
Joseph B. Dial, Commissioner
Joseph B. Dial was sworn in as a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission by Judge Clarence N. Stevenson in Victoria, Texas, on June 20, 1991, after being nominated by President George Bush in April 1991, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in May. Commissioner Dial chairs the CFTC's Agricultural Advisory Committee.
A native Texan, Commissioner Dial graduated from Texas Military Institute and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management from the University of Maryland. He owned and managed a multi-faceted cattle, crop, and agricultural products/services business in South Texas. He was active in banking and international trade. For 25 years he exported agricultural products to seventeen foreign countries. During this time he traveled extensively and worked closely with representatives of the international banking community, government officials, and private sector business leaders. He served on the United States Trade Representative's Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee and the Foreign Trade Committee of the National Cattlemen's Association.
Dial is a past President of the Former Texas Rangers Association and served as a trustee of the Texas State Aquarium. In 1990, Texas Governor Bill Clements appointed Commissioner Dial agricultural representative to the Texas Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) for the Environmental Protection Agency's Gulf of Mexico Program. He was then elected Chairman by the 24 CAC members appointed by the governors of the five Gulf states. Commissioner Dial presently serves on the Board of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation and is a Member of the Group of Experts United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Committee on Commodities.
John E. Tull, Jr., Commissioner
John E. Tull, Jr. was nominated to be a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission by President Bill Clinton on November 5, 1993. Following confirmation by the Senate, he was sworn in on November 24, 1993 for a term expiring April 15, 1998. Commissioner Tull served as Acting Chairman of the Commission from January 29, 1996 through August 26, 1996.
Prior to joining the CFTC, Mr. Tull owned and operated a diversified farming operation in his hometown of Lonoke, Arkansas which produces rice, soybeans, corn, and wheat and raises cattle. In addition to farming, Commissioner Tull traded the rice contract as a licensed floor broker at the New Orleans Commodity Exchange and the Mid-America Commodity Exchange and he was later a member of the Chicago Board of Trade's Rice Working Group.
His active involvement in agriculture led to his association with numerous agricultural organizations. Mr. Tull has served as Member and Chairman of the Arkansas State Plant Board, Board Member of the U.S. Rice Foundation, President and Board Member of both the Arkansas and National Rice Councils, and Chairman and Board Member of the European Subcommittee of the National Rice Council.
He has held the positions of President of the Arkansas Seed Growers Association, President and Board Member of the Arkansas Cattlemen's Association, Vice President of the Arkansas Soybean Association, and Chairman of the Governor's Rail Safety Committee. He also served on the Advisory Board for Agriculture to the University of Arkansas College of Agriculture, Board Member of the Bayou Meto Irrigation District, and Member of the Advisory Board of the First Commercial Bank of Cabot, Arkansas. In 1996, Commissioner Tull was inducted into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame.
Mr. Tull received a B.S. in Commerce from the University of North Carolina. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and the Korean Conflict and ended his military service with the rank of Lieutenant. Mr. Tull and his wife, Mary, have three children and eight grandchildren.
Barbara P. Holum, Commissioner
Barbara Pedersen Holum was nominated to be a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission by President Clinton on November 8, 1993, and was confirmed by the Senate on November 19, 1993, and sworn in on November 28, 1993. On December 23, 1993, she was elected by seriatim order of the Commission to serve as Acting Chairman. Ms. Holum served in this capacity until October 12, 1994. She was appointed Chairman of the Advisory Committee on CFTC-State Cooperation on March 14, 1994.
Prior to joining the CFTC, Ms. Holum was President of the National Agricultural Lands Center, a non-profit private organization which administers agricultural resource conservation programs and projects. Ms. Holum's government posts include serving as the Director of Congressional Liaison for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission during President Carter's administration and as the Congressional Liaison Officer for the National Agricultural Lands Study.
Ms. Holum was raised in Boelus, Nebraska, where her father, mother and brothers operate a dairy farm. She attended the University of Nebraska and the University of Denver. Ms. Holum and her husband John reside in Annapolis, Maryland.
David D. Spears, Commissioner
David D. Spears was sworn in as a Commissioner on September 1, 1996. Mr. Spears was nominated by President Clinton on May 3, 1996, and confirmed by the Senate on August 2, 1996, for a term expiring in April 2000. Commissioner Spears chairs the CFTC�s Financial Products Advisory Committee.
A native of Wichita, Kansas, Mr. Spears received his B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics from Kansas State University in 1979. After graduating from college, he joined the lending division of the Wichita Bank for Cooperatives, which finances agricultural cooperatives and agribusiness in the four-state region of Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and New Mexico. From 1979 to 1989, Commissioner Spears worked at the bank (later "Cobank") as, among other positions, Assistant Vice President, responsible for supervising the delivery of financial services and products to Cobank's customers. During this period Commissioner Spears also served on various bank management, advisory and loan committees.
Prior to joining the CFTC, Commissioner Spears held several staff positions with the office of Senator Bob Dole. Starting in 1989, he was a legislative assistant to the Senator in Washington, D.C., specializing in agriculture, credit and trade issues. In this regard, Commissioner Spears had primary responsibility for advising Senator Dole on agriculture and agricultural trade policy, including the 1990 Farm Bill and other credit and trade legislation.
From July 1992 through June 1996, Commissioner Spears served as State Director for Senator Dole in Wichita, Kansas. In this capacity, he represented the Senator at events and forums throughout the state and managed the Senator's staff in offices located in Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita.
Mr. Spears and his wife, Pam, have two children.