Robert Doar

Doar was born in Washington, D.C., the son of former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights John Doar, an American civil rights movement figure, and Anne Leffingwell Doar. He has one sister, Gael, and two brothers, Michael and Burke.

He attended St. Ann's School, Phillips Academy, and Princeton University, from where he graduated with an A.B. in history in 1983 after completing a 130-page senior thesis titled "'With Thoroughness and Honor' The Work of the Impeachment Inquiry Staff of the House Judiciary Committee 1974."{{Cite journal|last=Doar|first=Robert Larkin|editor-last=Princeton University. Department of History|title="With Thoroughness and Honor" The Work of the Impeachment Inquiry Staff of the House Judiciary Committee 1974|url=https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/dsp01qv33rx99p|language=English}}{{cite web|date=2020-01-13|title=Historian Kruse revisits the legacy of Princeton alumnus and civil rights champion John Doar|url=https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/01/13/historian-kruse-revisits-legacy-princeton-alumnus-and-civil-rights-champion-john|access-date=2020-01-27|publisher=Princeton University}} While at Princeton, Doar was a member of the Princeton Tigers men's basketball "green team", a practice squad that did not dress for competitive play. In 1981, he traveled with the team to the NCAA men's basketball tournament, where Princeton lost to BYU in the round of 48.{{cite web|date=2014-04-18|title=Common Good #2 – Robert Doar|url=https://faithandpubliclife.com/robert-doar/|access-date=2020-01-27|publisher=Initiative on Faith & Public life}}

After graduating from Princeton, he began working at the New York City Office of Business Development, where he was charged with assisting small businesses relocating to lower rent areas of the city. He then moved to Washington, D.C., where he became deputy to the editor-in-chief of The Washington Monthly.{{cite web|date=2019-07-08|title=The New Head of the American Enterprise Institute on the Current State of Think Tanks|url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2019/07/08/robert-doar-american-enterprise-institute-think-tanks/|access-date=2020-01-27|publisher=Washingtonian}} He was appointed editor of the Harlem Valley Times in Dutchess County, New York, and then worked as assistant vice president of the First National Bank of Hudson Valley.

In May 1995, he became the Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance's Division of Child Support Enforcement. In 2003, Governor George Pataki appointed him as Commissioner of the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. He is a member of the board of directors of the research organization Child Trends.

Before joining the American Enterprise Institute, he was appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg on January 8, 2007, to serve as commissioner of the New York City Human Resources Administration, where he oversaw the city's welfare and public assistance programs.{{Cite web|title=Robert Doar | AEI Scholar|url=http://www.aei.org/author/robert-doar/|website=AEI}}{{cite web |date= |title=Mayor Bloomberg Appoints Robert Doar As HRA Commissioner |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/005-07/mayor-bloomberg-appoints-robert-doar-hra-commissioner#/0 |access-date=2020-01-27 |publisher=The Official Website of the City of New York}}

Doar has testified before the United States Congress, and has written for The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Hill, National Review, and other publications.

Doar was served co-chair of the bipartisan National Commission on Hunger{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}} and a lead member of the AEI-Brookings Institution working group on poverty and opportunity, which published a report, "Opportunity, Responsibility, and Security: A Consensus Plan for Reducing Poverty and Restoring the American Dream."{{cite report | last1=Aber | first1=Lawrence | last2=Butler | first2=Stuart | last3=Danziger | first3=Sheldon | last4=Doar | first4=Robert | last5=Ellwood | first5=David T. | last6=Gueron | first6=Judith M. | last7=Haidt | first7=Jonathan | last8=Haskins | first8=Ron | last9=Holzer | first9=Harry J. | last10=Hymowitz | first10=Kay | last11=Mead | first11=Lawrence | last12=Mincy | first12=Ronald | last13=Reeves | first13=Richard V. | last14=Strain | first14=Michael R. | last15=Waldfogel | first15=Jane | date=2015 | title=Opportunity, responsibility, and security: A consensus plan for reducing poverty and restoring the American dream | publisher=American Enterprise Institute & Brookings Institution | url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/opportunity-responsibility-and-security-a-consensus-plan-for-reducing-poverty-and-restoring-the-american-dream/}} [https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/full-report.pdf PDF] He is the editor of "A Safety Net That Works: Improving Federal Programs for Low-Income Americans," an AEI publication in which experts discuss major federal public assistance programs and offer proposals for reform.{{cite book | editor-last=Doar | editor-first=Robert | date=2017 | title=A safety net that works: Improving federal programs for low-income Americans | publication-place=Washington, DC | publisher=American Enterprise Institute | isbn=978-0-8447-5004-0 | url=https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/A-Safety-Net-That-Works.pdf}} In 2018, he helped convene a bipartisan working group with Brookings and Opportunity America that published a report, "Work, Skills, Community: Restoring Opportunity for the Working Class."{{Cite report | last1=Cass | first1=Oren | last2=Doar | first2=Robert | last3=Dodge | first3=Kenneth A. | last4=Galston | first4=William A. | last5=Haskins | first5=Ron | last6=Jacoby | first6=Tamar | last7=Kim | first7=Anne | last8=Mead | first8=Lawrence M. | last9=Reed | first9=Bruce | last10=Sawhill | first10=Isabel V. | last11=Streeter | first11=Ryan | last12=Valenzuela | first12=Abel | last13=Wilcox | first13=W. Bradford | title=Work, skills, and community: Restoring opportunity for the working class | date=October 3, 2018 | publisher=Opportunity America | url=https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Work-Skills-Community-FINAL-PDF.pdf}}

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• [https://www.aei.org/profile/robert-doar/ Biography] at American Enterprise Institute
• {{C-SPAN|69202}}

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Category:Living people

Category:American men's basketball players

Category:Businesspeople from Washington, D.C.

Category:Academics from Washington, D.C.

Category:Politicians from New York City

Category:Princeton University alumni

Category:Princeton Tigers men's basketball players

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)