Richard Cordray

Richard Cordray is a lawyer and politician who was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Ohio in 2018. Previously, Cordray served as the first Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from 2012 to 2017. Prior to his appointment, Cordray variously served as Ohio’s Attorney General, Solicitor General, and Treasurer. In 2008, he received a Financial Services Champion award from the U.S. Small Business Administration and a Government Service Award from NeighborWorks America.  In 2005, he was named “County Leader of the Year” by American City & County Magazine. 

Earlier in his career, Cordray was an adjunct professor at the Ohio State University College of Law (1989-2002), served as a State Representative for the 33rd Ohio House District (1991-1993), was the first Solicitor General in Ohio’s history (1993-1994), and was a sole practitioner and Of Counsel to Kirkland & Ellis (1995-2007).  Cordray is a graduate of Michigan State University, Oxford University, and the University of Chicago Law School.  He was Editor-in-Chief of the University of Chicago Law Review and later clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy.