Rick Cotton

Richard Cotton (born

Early life and education Cotton was born in 1945 or 1946 in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.

Career

Early career After graduating from Yale Law School, Cotton served as a law clerk to Judge J. Skelly Wright on United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1969 to 1970. He subsequently clerked for Justice William J. Brennan Jr. on Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 to 1971.

Private sector Cotton worked at NBCUniversal for 25 years. During this time, he spent 20 years as Executive Vice President and General Counsel.

Government Cotton has served in various governmental roles throughout his career. He was Executive Secretary to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare under Secretary Joseph A. Califano Jr. He later worked as Special Assistant for Renewable Energy to Deputy Secretary John Sawhill at the U.S. Department of Energy.

From 2015 to 2017, Cotton worked for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as Special Counsellor to the Governor for Interagency Initiatives. In this role, he focused on infrastructure projects in downstate New York, including LaGuardia and JFK Airports, the Moynihan Train Hall and Penn-Farley Complex, the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge (formerly Tappan Zee Bridge), the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center expansion, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Second Avenue Subway project.

Personal life Cotton married Elizabeth W. Smith, the Assistant Commissioner of New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, in 2011.

On March 9, 2020, New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced that Cotton had been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019. His wife also tested positive for the virus, and the couple were reported to have self-quarantined in their home. Cuomo reported on March 22 that Cotton had recovered from SARS-CoV-2 without having been hospitalized.