Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman Gary Gensler today announced the appointment of Steven W. Adamske to serve as Director of Public Affairs at the agency. Mr. Adamske, who will join the CFTC staff this summer, currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and Spokesperson for Secretary Timothy Geithner at the U.S. Treasury Department. He previously served as Communications Director for the House Financial Services Committee under Chairman Barney Frank. Mr. Adamske will replace Scott Schneider, who is leaving this summer to attend law school and business school at the University of Pennsylvania.
“Steve has been a successful communications strategist for 20 years,” CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler said. “His experience at the Treasury Department and on the House Financial Services Committee will prove invaluable as the CFTC works to finalize rules to bring oversight to the swaps markets. We look forward to having him join the team.
“I thank Scott for his leadership of the public affairs office over the last two years. I appreciate his counsel during the Dodd-Frank legislative process and the CFTC rule-writing process. I wish him the best as he enters the next stage of his career.”
In his current role at the Treasury Department, Mr. Adamske specializes in domestic finance issues such as the debt limit, reform of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the wind down of the Troubled Asset Relief Program and implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
While working for the House Financial Services Committee, Mr. Adamske handled the messaging and press for a broad range of issues, including TARP, anti-predatory lending legislation, affordable housing, securities law, the auto industry rescue and the Dodd-Frank Act. Prior to working for the Financial Services Committee, Mr. Adamske worked on Capitol Hill with Senator Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.). Mr. Adamske also served in the Clinton Administration as an advance and scheduling aide for Vice President Gore and held press positions at the Department of Interior and the Federal Communications Commission.
Mr. Adamske is a graduate of the University of California at Irvine and lives in Washington, DC with his husband David and daughter Sydney.
