Kreps, Juanita (1921—)

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Kreps, Juanita (1921—)

American economist, educator, and first woman appointed secretary of commerce. Born Juanita Morris on January 11, 1921, in Lynch, Kentucky; daughter of Elmer Morris and Cenia (Blair) Morris; Berea College, A.B., 1942; Duke University, M.A., 1944, Ph.D., 1948; married Clifton H. Kreps (an economist), on August 11, 1944; children:Sarah Blair Kreps ; Laura Ann Kreps ; Clifton H. Kreps.

An expert in labor economics, Juanita Morris Kreps has had a distinguished career in education, private industry, and public service. Born in a small coal-mining town in eastern Kentucky in 1921, Kreps was the daughter of a mine manager. The family had little money, and Kreps had to struggle to obtain an education. She worked and went to school part-time, finally completing her B.A. in economics at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky, in 1942. An excellent student, Kreps then continued her education at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. She received a master's degree in economics in 1944. In that year, she also married fellow Duke student Clifton Kreps, with whom she had three children. Kreps took a teaching position at Denison College in Granville, Ohio while working towards her doctoral degree from Duke University, which she completed in 1948.

She left Denison College to accept a faculty position at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, where she taught until 1954. After another brief teaching job at Queens College in New York City, Kreps returned to Duke University, this time as an assistant professor in the department of economics. She taught and performed research at Duke for over 20 years, becoming nationally recognized as an authority on the economics of labor in the United States. Her research included a focus on race and gender equity in the workforce, and she also contributed to the study of aging workers. Her book Sex in the Marketplace, published in 1971, described discrimination against women in the American workforce. Promoted to full professor at Duke in 1967, Kreps served as dean of the women's college from 1969 to 1972, when she was named as the first female director of the New York Stock Exchange. The following year, she became the first female vice-president of Duke. By the mid-1970s, she was among the most well-known of labor economists, and served on the boards of numerous large corporations.

In 1977, the newly elected President Jimmy Carter named Kreps as his secretary of commerce. She was the first woman to hold that office, as well as the first professional economist; Kreps was also only the fifth woman to hold any Cabinet post. As secretary, Kreps focused on U.S. trade issues and development of poor regions of the United States. She also maintained a strong interest in labor equity issues faced by women, who were by the late 1970s already a major sector of the American workforce and who were politically organizing to achieve government support against job discrimination. Having faced male prejudice in her own education and career, Kreps supported the U.S. feminist movement politically, while providing a role model for other professional women. Her high visibility in federal office and her efforts on behalf of women, minorities, and the poor led the Ladies' Home Journal to honor her as "Woman of the Year" for 1978. In 1979, President Carter appointed Kreps to lead a delegation to Beijing, making her the first secretary of commerce to visit China. There she helped bring about an important trade agreement.

Kreps resigned her Cabinet post following her success in China and returned to Duke University to teach again. She has been associated with Duke since 1979 and is currently the James B. Duke Professor of Economics, Emeritus and serves on the board of directors of the Duke Endowment. The author of many articles on economic development and job equity, Kreps continues to serve as an expert on labor issues on corporate boards, most recently with companies such as Eastman Kodak, AT&T, J.C. Penney, United Airlines, and R.J. Reynolds. She has also been appointed to national economic policy institutions, such as the National Council on Aging, and holds honorary doctorates from more than a dozen universities.