John Bryson was appointed by President Obama as the 37th Secretary of Commerce and sworn into office on October 21, 2011. On June 11, 2012, Secretary Bryson began a medical leave of absence to focus on resolving health issues. He resigned on June 21, 2012. Bryson has nearly three decades of business experience, including 18 years as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Edison International.

Secretary Bryson was a key member of President Obama’s economic team, working to implement the administration’s top economic priority: accelerating job creation. He works to strengthen the economic recovery and U.S. competitiveness and serves as the voice for the business community in the President’s Cabinet.

As Commerce Secretary, Bryson oversaw an agency charged with helping make American businesses more innovative and successful at home and more competitive abroad. Bryson’s priority as Commerce Secretary is to help American businesses “build it here and sell it everywhere.”

He was focused in particular on three areas that created more American jobs: supporting advanced manufacturing, helping U.S. companies increase exports, and encouraging more companies to invest in or expand operations in the U.S. First, as co-chair of the White House Office of Manufacturing Policy, he was coordinating government-wide efforts to support and strengthen America’s manufacturing sector, especially advanced manufacturing. Second, he led the president’s National Export Initiative to double U.S. exports and create millions of jobs. Third, he drove the federal effort to increase business investment in the U.S. through SelectUSA, America's first-ever national investment advocacy program.

In addition, Secretary Bryson was working to implement historic reforms to the U.S. patent system, foster “clusters” that create jobs by maximizing strengths in U.S. regions, strengthen online security and privacy for businesses and consumers, and invest in coastal communities, weather, and oceanic sciences.

Before becoming Commerce Secretary, Bryson served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison and Edison Mission Group, from 1990 to 2008. At Edison, he led the utility through the California energy crisis. As CEO, he created a competitive power subsidiary, the Mission Group, which expanded across the U.S. and was a global leader in privatizing power plants and electric systems in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, the Philippines, and several European countries.

Bryson has also served as a director on several public, educational, and nonprofit boards, including The Boeing Company and The Walt Disney Company.  He has also served as an adviser and a director of entrepreneurial and start-up companies, including Coda Automotive, Inc. and BrightSource Energy. He was a senior adviser to the global investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR).

Before joining the private sector, Bryson was president of the California Public Utilities Commission and chairman of the California State Water Resources Control Board.  He was also a partner in the law firm of Morrison and Foerster. Shortly after earning his J.D. from Yale Law School, he and some classmates received a grant from the Ford Foundation to form the Natural Resources Defense Council in 1971.

Bryson is a graduate of Stanford University. He and his wife Louise have four daughters.