Jo Anne Bryant Barnhart

5:45 p.m., Jan. 8, 2005--UD alumna Jo Anne Bryant Barnhart, commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), was the featured speaker at UD’s Winter Commencement.

Winter Commencement, for students who complete their degree requirements in August and December, traditionally features a distinguished UD graduate as speaker.

Earlier this year, Barnhart was inducted into UD’s Alumni Wall of Fame, which recognizes outstanding professional and public service achievements by UD graduates. She received a bachelor’s degree in English from UD in 1975.

Nominated by President George W. Bush, Barnhart became the 14th commissioner of Social Security in 2001. As head of the SSA, she has responsibility for administering the Social Security retirement, survivors and disability programs, as well as the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Some 65,000 persons work for this independent federal agency, which has more than 1,500 offices across the nation.

Before her appointment in 2001, Barnhart served for more than four years as a member of the Social Security Advisory Board, an independent body created to advise Congress on Social Security issues and policies.

A former SSA employee, she worked in the Office of Family Assistance from 1981-86, first as deputy associate commissioner and then as associate commissioner. She was minority staff director for the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs from 1986-90 and served as assistant secretary for children and families at the Department of Health and Human Services from 1990-93.

She also was legislative assistant to the late U.S. Sen. William V. Roth Jr. (R-Del.) from 1977-81 and served as his campaign manager in 1988, 1994 and 2000. In addition, she has managed her own political and public policy consulting firm.

Barnhart lives in Virginia with her husband and son.

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