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 Michael R. Bloomberg is the 108th Mayor of the City of New York. He was first elected in November 2001, two months after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, a time when many believed that crime would return, businesses would flee, and New York might never recover. Instead, through hundreds of innovative new policies and initiatives, Mayor Bloomberg has made New York City safer, stronger, and greener than ever.
 Today, compared to 2001, crime is down 35 percent. The welfare rolls are down 25 percent. High school graduation rates are up 40 percent since 2005. Ambulance response times are at record lows. Teen smoking is down more than 50 percent. More than 650 acres of new parkland have been added. And the City has weathered the national recession better than most places. Since October 2009, the nation has gained back only one out of every four jobs that were lost in the national recession. Meanwhile, New York City has gained back nearly all of its lost jobs.
Born on February 14, 1942 in Boston and raised in a middle class home in Medford, Massachusetts, Michael Bloomberg attended Johns Hopkins University, where he paid his tuition by taking loans and working as a parking lot attendant. After college, he went on to receive an MBA from Harvard Business School. In 1966 he was hired by a Wall Street firm, Salomon Brothers, for an entry-level job.
 He quickly rose through the ranks at Salomon, overseeing equity trading and sales before heading up the firm's information systems. When Salomon was acquired in 1981, he was let go from the firm. With a vision of an information company that would use emerging technology to bring transparency and efficiency to the buyers and sellers of financial securities, he launched a small startup company called Bloomberg LP. Today, Bloomberg LP is a global media company that has over 310,000 subscribers to its financial news and information service. Headquartered in New York City, the company has about 13,000 employees worldwide.
 As his company grew, Michael Bloomberg started directing more of his attention to philanthropy, donating his time and resources to many different causes. He has sat on the boards of numerous charitable, cultural, and educational institutions, including Johns Hopkins University, where, as chairman of the board, he helped build the Bloomberg School of Public Health into one of the world's leading institutions of public health research and training.
 In 2001 he ran for mayor of the City of New York and, in a major upset, won the election. After entering City Hall, Mayor Bloomberg won control of New York City's broken public school system and turned it around by raising standards, promoting innovation, and holding schools accountable for success. He spurred economic growth and job creation by revitalizing old industrial areas and strengthening key industries, including new media, film and television, bio-science, technology, and higher education. The Mayor's Five Borough Economic Opportunity Plan has helped bring the City through the national recession as quickly as possible and helped avoid the level of job losses that many experts had forecast and that other cities experienced. He has also launched new, cutting-edge programs that encourage entrepreneurship, combat poverty, and help people acquire the skills they need to build careers.
His passion for public health has led to ambitious new health strategies that have become national models, including a ban on smoking in all indoor workplaces, as well as at parks and beaches. Today, life expectancy is 19 months longer than it was before Mayor Bloomberg took office. He has also created a far-reaching plan to fight climate change and promote sustainable development on an unprecedented scale. His belief that America's mayors and business leaders can help effect change in Washington led him to launch national bi-partisan coalitions to combat illegal guns, reform immigration, and invest in infrastructure. And he has been a strong champion of the City's cultural community, expanding support for artists and arts organizations and helping to bring more than 80 permanent public art commissions to all five boroughs.
Mayor Bloomberg is the father of two daughters, Emma and Georgina.
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