Hester Peirce, whose term on the Securities and Exchange Commission ended 18 months ago, will join the faculty of a Virginia law school as an associate professor. The move marks a return to academia for the former commissioner, who spent more than a decade at the SEC. Her departure also leaves another empty seat in the agency’s leadership, which has struggled to maintain a full slate of commissioners.
A shift from regulator to professor
Peirce will begin her new role at an unnamed law school in Virginia, where she’ll teach courses related to securities regulation and financial markets. She served as an SEC commissioner from 2018 until her term expired in June 2023. Before that, she was a senior counsel at the SEC and later a research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. The law school has not announced a start date for her appointment, but Peirce is expected to begin teaching in the coming academic year.
The transition from Wall Street’s top cop to the classroom is a well-trodden path for former regulators. Peirce, known for her skepticism of heavy-handed enforcement, often dissented from SEC actions she saw as overreach. In recent years, she became a vocal advocate for clearer rules on digital assets, arguing that the agency’s approach had stifled innovation. At the law school, she’ll likely bring that perspective to students studying the intersection of finance and regulation.
Another vacancy at the SEC
Peirce leaves behind a commission that has operated with only three of its five seats filled for most of the past year. Her departure adds to the vacancies at an agency already stretched thin. The SEC currently has three commissioners — Chair Gary Gensler, Caroline Crenshaw, and Mark Uyeda — leaving two empty slots. A full commission typically requires five members. The White House has yet to nominate replacements for Peirce or for former commissioner Allison Herren Lee, who stepped down in 2022.
The lack of a full board has practical consequences. SEC rules require a quorum of three commissioners to approve major enforcement actions, new rules, or corporate filings. With just three members, any absence or recusal can stall decisions. Critics have called on President Biden to quickly fill the seats to ensure the agency can function normally. But political gridlock in the Senate has slowed confirmations for SEC nominees in recent years.
Peirce’s exit removes one of the agency’s most outspoken dissenters. She frequently voted against proposed rules on climate disclosure, private funds, and market structure, arguing they exceeded the SEC’s authority. Her departure could tilt the commission further toward the majority’s regulatory agenda, at least until the empty seats are filled.
What’s next for the law school and the SEC
The Virginia law school has not detailed which courses Peirce will teach or whether she’ll take on a research role. She previously taught securities regulation as an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. Her appointment is subject to final approval by the school’s board of trustees, a process that typically takes a few weeks.
Meanwhile, the SEC continues to operate with a reduced bench. The agency has not commented on when replacements might be nominated. For now, the next steps rest with the administration. The White House must name candidates, and the Senate must confirm them — a process that could stretch late into the year.
