James Cole, Jr.

James Cole, Jr. founded and has been chair and chief executive officer of The Jasco Group, LLC, a multidimensional investment management firm, since January 2017. He also currently serves as the nominating and corporate governance committee chair at AIG.

He previously served at the US Department of Education as delegated deputy secretary of education and general counsel from January 2016 to January 2017, general counsel, a US Senate confirmed seat, from December 2014 to January 2017, and senior advisor to the secretary from August 2014 to December 2014. As deputy secretary, James served as the chief operating officer of the Department of Education and oversaw a broad range of operational, management, policy, legal and program functions. From November 2011 to August 2014, James served as deputy general counsel of the US Department of Transportation. Prior to joining the Department of Transportation, James was a corporate law partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, with a primary focus on mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance. James began his career as a financial analyst at GE Capital Corporation.