OREANDA-NEWS.  February 25, 2014. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) announced that the Hon. Elisse B. Walter, former Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has been elected to its Board of Directors.

Ms. Walter, 63, was appointed Commissioner of the SEC by President George W. Bush, and served in that capacity from 2008 until 2013. President Barack Obama designated her as Chairman of the SEC in December 2012.

Ms. Walter spent more than two decades of her distinguished career at the SEC. She served as Senior Executive Vice President, Regulatory Policy and Programs, for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). She held the same position at the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) before its 2007 consolidation with NYSE Member Regulation. Earlier in her career, she served as the General Counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and as Deputy Director of the SEC Division of Corporation Finance.

“Chairman Walter’s long and distinguished record of public service in major leadership roles at key agencies of the federal government has given her unique insight into both business and government,” said Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian, Chairman of the Board. “We feel very fortunate to have her on our Board.”

Among the honors Ms. Walter has received are the Presidential Rank Award (Distinguished), the ASECA William O. Douglas Award, the SEC Chairman’s Award for Excellence and the Federal Bar Association’s Philip A. Loomis, Jr., and Manuel F. Cohen Awards. She is a member of the Academy of Women Achievers of the YWCA of the City of New York and the inaugural class of the DirectWomen Institute.

Ms. Walter holds a B.A. in Mathematics, cum laude, from Yale University and a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School.