Chris Lu

Chris Lu is the James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. During a public service career that has spanned all three branches of the federal government, Lu's experience includes both domestic and foreign policy, as well as the management of complex organizations.

Lu has been confirmed twice by the U.S. Senate for senior-level presidential appointments. During the Biden Administration, he served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for management and reform, where he led negotiations on the UN budget, coordinated oversight of UN programs, and managed cross-cutting issues, including global AI policy.

During the second term of the Obama Administration, Lu served as U.S. deputy secretary of labor. In this role, he was the chief operating officer of a cabinet department with 17,000 employees and a $12 billion budget.

From 2009 to 2013, Lu served as White House cabinet secretary and assistant to the president, where he was the primary liaison between the White House and the federal agencies. President Barack Obama said of Lu's service: “Through his dedication and tireless efforts, Chris has overseen one of the most stable and effective cabinets in history – a cabinet that has produced extraordinary accomplishments over the past four years.”

The proud son of immigrants, Lu is one of the highest-ranking Asian Americans ever to have served in the federal government. As deputy secretary of the Labor Department, Lu was only the second Asian American in history to hold that position in any cabinet department. During the Obama Administration, Lu also co-chaired the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Prior to his service in the executive branch, Lu was legislative director and acting chief of staff for then-Senator Obama. The day after Election Day 2008, Lu was named executive director of the Obama-Biden transition planning team, which was widely recognized as one of the most successful presidential transitions in history. His experience managing transitions of power includes serving as: transition co-chair for Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger (2025-26); Department of Labor transition chair for President-elect Biden (2020-21); and transition co-chair for Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez (2017).

Lu began his government career serving as deputy chief counsel of the House Oversight Committee and as a law clerk to Judge Robert E. Cowen of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Outside of government, Lu was a senior advisor to FiscalNote (a global AI/technology company) and co-editor of the book Triumphs and Tragedies of the Modern Congress (2014). He is currently the board chair of the Fair Labor Association and a member of the Microsoft Human Rights Advisory Council and the Princeton University School of Public and International Affairs Advisory Council.

Lu is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University, a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, and he holds an honorary doctorate from MacMurray College.