Virginia Bauer
Executive Director of the New Jersey Lottery
In office
2003–2004
Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
In office
2008–2012
Chief Executive Officer and Secretary of the New Jersey Commerce, Economic Growth and Tourism Commission
In office
2004–2007
Member of the Executive Committee on the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum
Assumed office
2008
Director to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority
Assumed office
2020
Personal details
Born
Virginia Samaras

1948
New Jersey

Virginia Samaras Bauer is an advocate for families of the victims of the September 11 terror attacks and a government leader in New Jersey. She currently is CFO of a security technology company that develops and markets proprietary software. She serves as Director of the Newmark Group, Inc. which is a publicly traded company operating a full service commercial real estate service business that offers a full time suite of services and products for owners and occupiers across the entire commercial real estate industry. Since 2008 she has served and continues to serve as a Member of Executive Committee on the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Appointed in 2020 by Governor Phil Murphy, she serves as a Director to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

Virginia's former positions include Senior Vice President of Covenant House International (2009 - 2010), Executive Director of the New Jersey Lottery (2003 - 2004) and Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch (1978 - 1985). She served as a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (2008 - 2012). She is a former New Jersey Secretary of Commerce, Economic Growth and Tourism.[1] She also served as a Cabinet Member to New Jersey Governor's McGreevy, Codey, and Corzine (2004 - 2008).

Her first husband, W. David Bauer, was a bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald and was killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Bauer, a mother of three to David, Stephen and Jackie,[2] became an advocate for 9/11 families, working to secure tax relief and other benefits from the federal government. Her advocacy work brought her into contact with New Jersey political leaders. A graduate of Rosemont College in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, Bauer is the daughter of Peter J. and Virginia K. Samaras. Bauer remarried in October 2007; her husband is Donald A. Steckroth (b. 1947), a widower and a judge in the United States Bankruptcy Court.[3] Raised in Middletown Township, New Jersey and Little Silver, she attended Red Bank Catholic High School.[4] Bauer lived in Rumson, New Jersey before moving to Red Bank.[5]

A former analyst for Merrill Lynch,[6] Bauer was appointed New Jersey Lottery Director in 2003 by former Gov. James McGreevey.[7][8] In the summer of 2004, McGreevey appointed her as Chief Executive Officer and Secretary of the New Jersey Commerce, Economic Growth and Tourism Commission, a position she retained in the cabinet of former Gov. Richard Codey.[9][10] On January 16, 2006, Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine announced his intention to retain Bauer in his cabinet.[11] In March 2007, Corzine announced his nomination of Bauer to serve as a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a part-time position running the bi-state transportation agency, which owns the World Trade Center site. She is the first 9/11 widow from New Jersey to be appointed to the Port Authority Board.

After being appointed to the Port Authority Board,[12] Bauer announced that she was stepping down as Commerce Secretary as part of a planned restructuring of state economic development agencies by Corzine. After leaving Commerce, it was announced that she was becoming head of government relations for a major real estate developer in New Jersey. There has been speculation in the media that Corzine was considering Bauer as a running mate for lieutenant governor in the 2009 election. However, earlier in the year she moved into a new position with Covenant House as Senior Vice President, Development.[13] As mentioned above, Virginia moved on to multiple high-power positions within the private sector and serves on multiple boards (Newmark Group, Inc, Foundation Board of the Monmouth Medical Center, and Trustee of The Peddie School) while maintaining her position as Director of New Jersey's Economic Development Authority.

References

  1. ↑ "Virginia Bauer, 9/11 widow and former state official, gets fundraising post". 27 January 2009. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-12-31. Retrieved 2010-01-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ↑ "Virginia Bauer, Donald Steckroth". The New York Times. 7 October 2007. Archived from the original on 12 May 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  4. ↑ Virginia S. Bauer Archived 2017-05-10 at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Next Stop. Accessed August 31, 2016. "Ginny grew up in Little Silver, Monmouth County as the eldest of five children. All through high school she had jobs, from babysitting at age 11 to afternoons and weekends as a cashier at the A&P in Little Silver. She graduated from Red Bank Catholic High School and Rosemont College before immediately landing a job with a Merrill Lynch training program."
  5. ↑ Staff. "SEPT. 11 ACTIVIST BAUER WEDS JUDGE" Archived 2016-09-11 at the Wayback Machine, Red Bank Green, October 9, 2007. Accessed August 31, 2016. "The paper reports that Bauer, of Red Bank, wed U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Donald H. Steckroth in a ceremony held Saturday at Georgian Court College. Bauer, 51, grew up in Middletown and was a Rumson resident when her first husband, David Bauer, died in the terror attacks."
  6. ↑ HighBeam
  7. ↑ "Content no longer available". Archived from the original on 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2010-01-22.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2017-07-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ↑ "Ground Zero Museum Adds 9-11 Kin Advisers". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2010-01-22.
  10. ↑ "McGreevey Picks Commerce Chief". The New York Times. 17 July 2004. Archived from the original on 19 July 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  11. ↑ Benson, Josh (22 January 2006). "And Now, the Hard Part". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 January 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  12. ↑ HighBeam
  13. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-12-31. Retrieved 2010-01-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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