Paulson served as the 74th Secretary of the Treasury under President George W. Bush, from July 2006 to January 2009. Prior to that, he had a thirty-two year career at Goldman Sachs, serving as chairman and chief Executive Officer beginning in 1999. Earlier in his career, he was a member of the White House Domestic Council as well as a staff assistant at the Pentagon.

Today, he serves as founder and chairman of The Paulson Institute at the University of Chicago, which aims to strengthen the economic and environmental relationship between the United States and China. A “think and do” tank founded in 2011, the Institute’s work is comprised of programs, advocacy and research with partners around the globe.

A lifelong conservationist, Paulson was Chairman of The Nature Conservancy Board of Directors and, prior to that, founded and co-chaired the organization’s Asia-Pacific Council. In 2011, he founded and continues to co-chair the Latin American Conservation Council, comprised of global business and political leaders. Additionally, he serves as an active supporter of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science’s What We Know initiative.

As a best-selling author of the book On the Brink, Paulson details his experiences as Treasury Secretary fending off the near-collapse of the U.S. economy during the Great Recession. His most recent book, titled Dealing with China, was released in the spring of 2015.

Paulson graduated from Dartmouth College in 1968 and received an M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1970. He and his wife, Wendy, have two children and four grandchildren.