On January 3, 2013, Mark Doms, of Washington,    DC was approved by the United States Senate as an appointee by President Barack Obama to be the Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs.  The Under Secretary is the principal economic advisor to the Secretary of Commerce.  Additionally, the Under Secretary heads the Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) and oversees the United States Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis.  These agencies have a combined staff of over 10,000 and a budget exceeding $1 billion.  He also serves as the Secretary’s appointed Board Representative to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation.

Prior to becoming Under Secretary, Dr. Mark Doms was the Chief Economist at the Department of Commerce (DOC) since August 2009.  As Chief Economist, he directed a staff of economists and policy analysts to produce a wide variety of reports and forecasts focused on current economic conditions and trends.  Dr. Doms was also a key advisor to the Secretary of Commerce and the administration on a wide variety of economic issues and developments.  

Prior to joining the Department, Dr. Doms served as the Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and worked at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Bank in Washington, D.C.   His research is widely cited in a variety of areas, including: innovation, productivity, wages, manufacturing, and price measurement.  

In 1992, Dr. Doms began his career in federal service at the U. S. Census Bureau’s Center for Economic Studies.  He received a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.