Rhea Schwartz

At the age of 30, Rhea Schwartz figure skated for the first time and it was love at first glide. Unlike most major sports, figure skating had no competitive opportunities for adults. After years of lobbying the US Figure Skating Association, Rhea succeeded in creating the first US Adult National Competition in 1995. She also created and served for eight years as chair of the Adult Figure Skating Committee of the Association.  She was then appointed by the International Skating Union as the first chair of its newly created Adult Figure Skating Committee. In 2005, she chaired the first ISU Iinternational adult figure skating competition held in Oberstdorf, Germany. Rhea was chosen by International Figure Skating magazine as one of the most influential people in figure skating. Rhea is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Penn State University and the Georgetown University Law Center. She has been in private practice, and has served as labor counsel at US Airways, special assistant to the first US Secretary of Education and assistant general counsel at the Department of Education, and counsel to the Board of the FDIC. After retiring from the practice of law, she was deputy director of the Center for Israel Studies at American University. Rhea serves on the Board of Directors of the Washington DC JCC, was chair of the Lawyers’ Committee for the Washington Performing Arts Society, and is active in the International Women’s Forum. After volunteering for the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital for 20 years, she served two terms on the National Board of the Girl Scouts of the USA.