Securities attorney and professor Roberta Karmel, nominated by President Jimmy Carter and confirmed in 1977 as the first female commissioner of the SEC, died on March 23 at her home in New York. Few roles were open to Karmel when she graduated from law school in 1962 yet she successfully carved out a career that included public and private law practice and academia. She retired from a 36-year teaching career at Brooklyn Law School in 2022, during the Covid-19 pandemic. She also served as the first female director of the New York Stock Exchange.
Rethinking65 Editorial Director Jerilyn Klein spoke with Karmel after hearing her participate in a panel discussion during the Practising Law Institute’s SEC Speaks in 2022 conference in Washington DC. Karmel discussed with Rethinking65 her career, what it was like to be the first female SEC commissioner, her advice for female financial advisors, how all advisors can get to know their clients better, what it takes to succeed at second (and third and fourth) acts, and age discrimination. She also told us that her biggest accomplishment was raising her four children. Here is that conversation, published shortly after the conference.
