Advisory Board of Governors

Leon E. Panetta
Director, Panetta Institute

Leon Edward Panetta has had a long and distinguished career in public service, ranging from his duty in the U.S. Army to his service as the Chief of Staff to the President of the United States.

Born in Monterey on June 28, 1938 of Italian immigrant parents, Panetta attended both Catholic and public schools and worked on his family’s farm in Carmel Valley, where he lives today with his wife Sylvia. He earned a B.A. magna cum laude from Santa Clara University and his J.D. from Santa Clara University Law School, where he was an editor of the Law Review. He served as a First Lieutenant in the Army from 1964 to 1966 and received the Army Commendation Medal.

Mr. Panetta first went to Washington in 1966, when he served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Thomas H. Kuchel of California, the Senate Minority Whip. In 1969, he became Special Assistant to the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare and then Director of the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, where he was responsible for enforcement of equal education laws. His book Bring Us Together (published in 1971) is an account of that experience. In 1970, he went to New York City, where he served as Executive Assistant to the Mayor John Lindsay, overseeing the city’s relations with the state and federal governments. Then, in 1971, Panetta returned to California, where he practiced law in the Monterey firm of Panetta, Thompson & Panetta until he was elected to Congress in 1976.

Mr. Panetta was a U.S. Representative from California’s 16th (now 17th) district from 1977 to 1993. As a House member, he was a key participant in the 1990 budget summit as well as every other summit during the 1980’s. He authored the Hunger Prevention Act of 1988; the Fair Employment Practices Resolution extending civil rights protections to House employees for the first time; numerous successful measures to protect the California coast, including creation of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary; legislation that established Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement for hospice care for the terminally ill; and other legislation on a variety of education, health, agriculture and defense issues.

From 1989 to 1993, Mr. Panetta was chairman of the House Committee on the Budget. He also served on that committee from 1979 to 1985. He chaired the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Domestic Marketing, Consumer Relations and Nutrition; the House Administration Committee’s Subcommittee on Personnel and Police; and the Select Committee on Hunger’s Task Force on Domestic Hunger. He also served as Vice Chairman of the Caucus of Vietnam Era Veterans in Congress and as a member of the President’s Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies.

Mr. Panetta left Congress in 1993, at the beginning of his ninth term, to become Director of the Office of Management and Budget for the incoming Clinton administration. In that position, he was instrumental in developing the 1993 budget package that is widely credited with a balanced federal budget and a budget surplus.

Mr. Panetta was appointed Chief of Staff to the President of the United States on July 17, 1994, and served in that position until January 20, 1997. He was the principal negotiator of the successful 1996 budget compromise, and was widely praised for bringing order and focus to White House operations and policy making.

Mr. Panetta is currently co-directs with his wife Sylvia the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, based at California State University, Monterey Bay — a university he helped establish on the site of the former military base, Fort Ord. The Institute serves as a not-for-profit — 501(c)(3) — study center for the advancement of bi-partisan public policy, to help our communities and our country meet the challenges of the 21st century. The Institute seeks in particular to attract thoughtful men and women to lives of public service, inspiring them to a high standard of conduct and equipping them with the practical skills of self-government. In addition, Mr. Panetta serves as Distinguished Scholar to the Chancellor of the California State University system. He advises the Chancellor on national issues affecting higher education and teaches a Master’s course in Public Policy at the Panetta Institute. In 1997, he was appointed Presidential Professor at Santa Clara University, teaching a course, Studies in Public Policy. Almost a decade ago, Mr. Panetta created the Leon Panetta Lecture Series. The lecture series invites nationally known leaders from the public and private sectors to address issues confronting the nation and the world.

Mr. Panetta has served as a leader in numerous community and public policy organizations throughout his career. In March 2006, Mr. Panetta was chosen to serve on the Iraq Study Group, a bi-partisan committee established at the urging of Congress and organized by the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Center for the Study of the Presidency and the James A. Baker III Institute. Since 2005, he has served as member of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future. In November 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Mr. Panetta as Co-Chair of the Council on Base Support and Retention. Mr. Panetta served a six-year term on the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange beginning in 1997. He was Chairman of the Committee for Review for the New York Stock Exchange Board of Directors and was Co-Chair of the Corporate Governance and Listing Standards Committee for the Stock Exchange. He served on the National Review Board of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the board of the National Steinbeck Center, the University of California Santa Cruz Foundation, and since June 1998, he has served on the board of the Santa Clara University Law School Board of Visitors. He also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for Santa Clara University; as a member of the Fleishman-Hillard International Advisory Board; as a trustee for the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula; and as a director for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He is Chairman of the National Board of Advisors of the Center for National Policy as well as Chairman of the Pew Oceans Commission. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for Blue Shield of California; IDT; Zenith; Connetics; the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation; Bread for the World; and Close Up. He lectures nationally and internationally on the state of the economy, the federal budget and other issues facing our nation.

Mr. Panetta’s awards and honors include, among others, the NEA Lincoln Award, 1969; the A. Philip Randolph Award, 1984; the Farm Bureau’s Golden Plow Award, 1991; the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages President’s Award, 1991; the Peter Burnett Award for Distinguished Public Service, 1993; and the Distinguished Public Service Medal from the Center for the Study of the Presidency, 1995; the Special Achievement Award for Public Service from the National Italian American Foundation, 1997; John H. Chafee Coastal Stewardship Award, 2001; Special Achievement Award, Santa Clara University School of Law, 2002: Julius A. Stratton Award for Coastal Leadership, 2003; Aquarium of the Pacific Ocean Conservation Award, 2006; Lifetime Achievement Award for the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, 2006; and the Smithsonian Institution National Portrait Gallery Paul Peck Presidential Award, 2006.

Mr. Panetta is married to Sylvia Marie Varni, who administered his district offices during his service in Congress and continues as a partner in his many activities. They have three grown sons and five grandchildren.

© 2007 Partnership for Public Service