Kreps, Juanita M. (Juanita Morris), 1921-2010

<p>Clara Juanita Morris Kreps (January 11, 1921 – July 5, 2010) was an American government official and businesswoman. She served as the United States Secretary of Commerce from January 23, 1977 until October 31, 1979, under President Jimmy Carter and was the first woman and first economist to hold that position, and the fourth woman to hold any cabinet position in the United States Executive Branch.</p>

<p>Kreps was born Clara Juanita Morris on January 11, 1921, in Lynch, Kentucky. She was the daughter of Cenia (née Blair) and Elmer M. Morris. She graduated from Berea College in 1942, and earned her master's and Ph.D. in economics at Duke University in 1944 and 1948, respectively. She was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. A specialist in labor demographics, Kreps taught at Denison University, Hofstra College, Queens College, and Duke. She rose through the ranks there to become the university's first female vice president. In 1972 she was the first woman director of the New York Stock Exchange.</p>

<p>On August 11, 1944, she married Clifton Holland Kreps, Jr., a former professor at the University of North Carolina. They had two daughters and one son.</p>

<p>Juanita Kreps was born in Lynch, Kentucky, on January 11, 1921. She received a B.A. from Berea College and, in 1944, an M.A. in economics from Duke University.</p>

<p>Kreps taught economics at Denison College in Ohio and then at Duke, becoming a vice president of the university in 1973. She also became director of the New York Stock Exchange -- the first woman to hold that post.</p>

<p>Following her time on Wall Street, Kreps became secretary of commerce in the Carter administration, becoming the first woman to head the commerce department; she held that position from 1977 to 1979. She was also the James B. Duke Professor of Economics and vice president emeritus at Duke University.</p>

<p>Kreps sits on various corporate boards, and is a trustee of the Duke endowment. She is also president of the board of overseers of TIAA-CREF.</p>