Michael S. Gordon Fellows
Michael S. Gordon Fellows are retired pension professionals who work with the Pension Rights Center on projects within their areas of expertise. The Fellows advise the Pension Rights Center on complex legal and policy issues and consult on cases.
The Fellows Program was launched at the Pension Rights Center’s 35th anniversary celebration in honor of Michael S. Gordon, the chief architect of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the nation’s private pension law, who served as Chair of the Center’s Board of Directors for more than two decades.
The above photo was taken by Kristian Whipple at the Pension Rights Center's 35th Anniversay celebration.
- William Bortz, former Associate Benefits Tax Counsel at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and former partner at Dewey Ballentine
- Frank Cummings, author of the original bill that became the private pension law and former partner at LeBoef, Lamb, Greene & McCrae
- Terrence M. Deneen, former Chief Insurance Program Officer of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and Senior Advisor at Palisades Capital Investors
- Diane Fuchs, former head of the Employee Benefits Practice group at Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice PLLC, and past president of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel
- Daniel Halperin, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and Harvard Law professor
- Scott Macey, former president and CEO of the ERISA Industry Committee, and former Senior Vice President and Director of Government Affairs for Aon Consulting.
- Judith Mazo, former Senior Vice President and Director of Research at the Segal Company, and former Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation attorney.
- Henry Rose, former General Counsel of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and Labor Department Associate Solicitor, and Of Counsel to Conner & Winters.
Robert Nagle, served as a Michael S. Gordon Fellow from 2011-2014. He was former Executive Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and Chief Counsel of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. Bob died in 2014. Read our tribute to him.
Read about a victory for a Pension Rights Center client won thanks to the assistance of a Michael S. Gordon Pension Fellow: Pension Rights Center Fellow helps widow receive pension.
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Did You Know?
A joint-and-survivor annuity is an annuity that pays a monthly benefit over the lives of the participant and his or her surviving spouse. This is the default form of benefit for married participants in most defined benefit pension plans. Because it lasts for the life of both the worker and the spouse, a joint-and-survivor annuity typically results in a lower monthly benefit payment than a single-life annuity.