November 30, 1941 Aulana L. Peters, the first African American to serve as a commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. Peters earned her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from the College of New Rochelle in 1963 and her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Southern California in 1973. That same year, she joined the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles as an associate. She became a partner in 1980 focused on commercial litigation, including class action suits and SEC enforcement actions. In 1989, President Ronald Reagan appointed her commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the third woman to serve in that capacity. Peters served on the commission until 1984. She then returned to Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher until retiring in 2000. Peters serves on the board of directors of Northrup Grumman, Deere & Company, and 3M. She also serves on Southern California Edison’s Nuclear Decommissioning Trust Fund Committee.
