Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky, senior international partner at the law firm of WilmerHale, was the US Trade Representative from 1997 to 2001, and a member of President Bill Clinton's cabinet. As USTR, Ambassador Barshefsky was the nation's chief trade negotiator and principal trade policymaker. She previously served as deputy trade representative from 1993 to 1996.
Barshefsky was elected a trustee of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 2008.