An academic with ties to the corporate sector, Susan C. Schwab was the U.S. Trade Representative during the last years of the George W. Bush administration. She had served in a deputy capacity before being tapped for the top post, taking over for Rob Portman.

Schwab is the author of the 1994 book Trade-Offs: Negotiating the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act, and she regularly discusses commerce on Bloomberg, CNBC, BBC and C-SPAN.

Since 2010, she has been an independent director of the Boeing Co. She is also a director of FedEx Corp. and Caterpillar Inc., and serves as a member of the board of advisors at Miller Buckfire & Co., LLC, an investment bank. From 2008 to 2012, Schwab made more than $3.2 million from her work on corporate boards, according to a review of public records.

Schwab previously served as a director of Petroleum & Resources Corp. from January 2000 to December 2005 and a director of corporate business development at Motorola Inc., from July 1993 to August 1995. She then went on to serve as vice chancellor of advancement and then CEO of the University System of Maryland.

From March 1989 to May 1993, she worked as an assistant secretary of commerce for the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service. Before that she was a senior aide to former Sen. John C. Danforth (R-Mo.).

A strategic adviser at the law firm Mayer Brown LLP, Schwab was awarded a Ph.D. in public administration and international business from George Washington University, and earned degrees from Stanford University and Williams College.