HARRISBURG (May 22) – Robin L. Wiessmann, a 28-year veteran of public finance and investment banking, was sworn in as Pennsylvania’s 40th State Treasurer by First Lady Judge Marjorie O. Rendell this afternoon in a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda.
"I have a strong sense of responsibility to do justice to the office, for those who follow behind,” Wiessmann said in her address. “It is truly wonderful for me to stand here before you, to publicly embrace the challenge before me.”
Wiessmann was confirmed by a unanimous vote of the Pennsylvania Senate to serve as State Treasurer for the rest of the term of former Treasurer Robert P. Casey, Jr., who was elected to the U.S. Senate last fall.
“I realize that my time in this position will be short, but I plan to bring the strength and energy required to make a durable imprint on the Treasury operation,” Wiessmann said. “My priorities are simple, and yet, ambitious. I plan to more forward by forging a framework for enhanced efficiency and high professional standards.”
Prior to her confirmation, Wiessmann, of Newtown, Bucks County, was affiliated with Merrill Lynch as a director and served as the director of Vantagepoint Funds. Wiessmann served the City of Philadelphia as the Deputy Director of Finance from 1980 to 1984, before spending the next four years at Goldman Sachs as a Vice President.
Wiessmann has served as a pioneer for women in her field, as a founding principal and president of Artemis Capital Group, the leading women-owned investment banking firm in the United States, from 1990-1999. In 1999, the National Women Executives in State Government Association awarded her the “Breaking the Glass Ceiling Award.” The Women’s City Club of New York lauded Wiessmann’s efforts to advance the status of women in business by awarding her the Civic Spirit Award in 1996.
At various points throughout her career, Wiessmann has served as a financial advisor and investment banker for seven state treasurers and the comptrollers of New York State and New York City. She was a board member and chair of the Investment Committee for a then $18 billion public sector pension fund, the International City Managers Retirement Corporation (ICMA).
Wiessmann graduated cum laude from Lafayette College and received her law degree from Rutgers University. She was joined at today’s ceremony by her husband and two children, Alexander Wiessmann Jarin and Karley Wiessmann Jarin.
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