Robert S. Rivkin is Senior Vice President for Regulatory & International Affairs and Deputy General Counsel at Delta Air Lines. Bob is responsible for addressing governmental regulation and oversight in the U.S. and abroad, as well as international, litigation, antitrust, employment and real estate legal issues. He also works with Delta colleagues and industry associations to advocate Delta’s interests across a range of domestic and international areas including bilateral aviation agreements, energy, emissions, competition and consumer rights.

Prior to joining Delta, Bob served four years as General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Transportation, after being nominated by President Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate.  He was counsel to Secretary Ray LaHood and served as DOT’s Chief Legal Officer, with authority to resolve all legal questions concerning the Department’s policies and programs and its over 55,000 employees and $78 billion budget.  While at DOT, Bob oversaw the activities of more than 500 lawyers in the Department and its ten operating administrations, safeguarding the integrity of the decision making process and promoting compliance with all applicable laws.  He was responsible for the Department’s regulatory program, its litigation and enforcement activities, and the preparation of transportation legislation.  In addition to his other duties, in August and September of 2009, Bob directed the $3 billion Cash for Clunkers (“CARS”) auto rebate program.  In 2010, and again in 2011, Bob received the Secretary’s Gold Medal Award for Outstanding Achievement.

From 2004 to 2009, Bob was Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Aon Corporation, a global risk management and insurance brokerage firm.  He was responsible for the business counseling, litigation, regulatory affairs, employment law and government affairs functions that supported all of Aon’s businesses across the Americas. From 2001 to 2004, Bob served as General Counsel of the Chicago Transit Authority, America’s second-largest transportation system, with over 4,000 buses and rail cars serving Chicago and 40 suburbs. Previously, Bob practiced law as a partner at the Chicago law firm now known as Schiff Hardin, L.L.P., served as Director of Programs and Policy for the City of Chicago’s Law Department, and prosecuted federal criminal cases as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. He has also worked at the British Parliament and at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium. Bob graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, received his J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was an associate editor of the Stanford Law Review, and clerked for Judge Joel M. Flaum of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

Bob is a Director of the National Park Foundation, and previously served as a Director of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and of Leadership Greater Chicago. He has also served as the Chair of the Committee on Rulemaking of the Administrative Conference of the United States, and as a Judge of the William R. Rivkin Award, presented annually for intellectual courage and constructive dissent by U.S. Foreign Service Officers, among other civic endeavors. Bob is a member of the Chicago Inn of Court, the Economic Club of Chicago, and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Bob and his wife, Cindy Moelis, live in the Washington, DC area and have two daughters (Stephanie and Claire) and a son (Alexander).