[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 87 (Friday, May 19, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E674]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  IN RECOGNITION OF MARINA WHITMAN FOR HER ACCOMPLISHED CAREER AS AN 
                               ECONOMIST

                                  _____
                                 

                          HON. DEBBIE DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 19, 2017

  Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. Marina 
Whitman on the date of her retirement from the University of Michigan 
for her distinguished career over half a century as a world-renowned 
economist and extraordinary woman. Dr. Whitman helped forge a path for 
generations of women as she rose to the top of government, business and 
academia throughout her career and broke down barriers for all of us.
  Many do not know that Dr. Whitman is the daughter of renowned 
mathematician John von Neumann, one of the foremost mathematicians and 
scholars of the 20th century. He is recognized as inventing game 
theory, pioneering developments in computer science and contributing to 
the Manhattan Project, among other achievements. Marina charted her own 
course and outgrew her father's shadow early in her career, leaving a 
mark wherever she went.
  After receiving her doctorate in Columbia University, Dr. Whitman 
began her career in academia with the University of Pittsburgh in 1962, 
eventually being named a Distinguished Public Service Professor with 
the university. She then took a leave of absence to serve with the 
federal government, first as an economist with the President's Council 
of Economic Advisors, then on President Nixon's National Price 
Commission. As the first woman to be named to the President's Council 
of Economic Advisors, Dr. Whitman wrote about how the media focused not 
on her intellectual achievements, but instead ``talk[ed] about what I 
looked like and that my eye shadow matched my dress. Some woman from 
the Pittsburgh Press wanted to know how my daughter's gerbil survived 
the trip to Washington.''
  After serving in government, Dr. Whitman worked as a Vice President 
and Chief Economist for General Motors from 1979 to 1985, and Vice 
President and Group Executive for Public Affairs until 1992. During 
this time, she oversaw GM's economics policies, as well as its 
environmental and industry-government relations activities. At the 
time, she was the highest ranking woman in the United States automotive 
industry.
  Since 1994, Dr. Whitman has been a Professor of Business 
Administration and Public Policy at the University of Michigan. Her 
work has focused on international trade and labor markets, and she is 
well-known internationally for her expertise on corporate governance 
and social responsibility.
  As one of the nation's foremost economists, Dr. Whitman has conducted 
pioneering research which helped to reshape international monetary and 
financial systems. She contributed to the success of one of America's 
largest corporations and worked to educate the auto industry about the 
changing dynamics of globalization and its impact on the industry. Her 
work and research has transformed our understanding of economics. She 
has been widely recognized for her outstanding work, having served on 
the boards of the National Bureau of Economic Research and the 
Institute for Advanced Study. Additionally, Dr. Whitman has received 
numerous awards throughout her career and holds honorary degrees from 
over twenty colleges and universities.
  Even more significant than the mark she has left on many institutions 
is the mentoring of women she has done for a lifetime. I am lucky to 
have benefitted from that personally and do not believe I would stand 
here today without the benefit of her wisdom. Dr. Whitman sees her role 
as having been front and center in a transitional generation. She 
coaxed social change from inside the places where policy decisions are 
made or demanded it from outside--a generation that demarcated before 
this and after this. She observed, ``I literally transitioned from the 
world in which women were secretaries and were not allowed to 
matriculate at the Harvard Business School to a world in which we have 
women who are CEOs of corporations . . . and I'm the in-between.'' Her 
patience, wisdom and pragmatism guided generations of women in both the 
workplace and the realism of how to do it all including being a parent, 
a spouse and a child of the sandwich generation.
  She leaves behind a peerless record of success, and I wish her well 
as she moves on from her position at the University of Michigan. Mr. 
Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Marina Whitman for 
her outstanding career as an economist. Her extraordinary work has 
impacted countless lives.

                          ____________________