Her Own Woman

American business was introduced last week to a Commerce Secretary unlike any other. Juanita Morris Kreps, 55, administrative vice president of North Carolina's Duke University, is the first woman ever appointed to that 63-year-old Cabinet office. She is also a labor economist, a graduate of a college that catered largely to penurious families in Southern Appalachia and a low-key feminist determined to help women find their place in the sun. She comes to Commerce with a very definite aim: to "encourage business to perform well all tasks that improve human welfare."

Jimmy Carter turned to Kreps after former IBM Vice President Jane Cahill Pfeiffer took herself out of the running for the job. But Kreps, a wryly humorous, soft-spoken mother of three, was on several transition-office lists, including those for Labor and the Council of Economic Advisers.

Sixth child of a struggling Kentucky coal-mine operator, Kreps earned a bachelor's degree at Berea College, which described itself as a "selfhelp" school for the poverty-stricken coal-mining region. "The spirit of the place," she recalls, "was one of independence, self-reliance, high-level integrity and academic excellence. It made a deeper impression on me than did my childhood." Kreps took her advanced degrees in economics at Duke. There she met her husband Clifton, now a professor of banking at the nearby University of North Carolina. The couple, married for 32 years, frequently entertain students at home but rarely venture out for other parties.

At Duke, Kreps specialized in manpower demographics--the structure and composition of the labor force--with particular emphasis on women and the aged. Appointed first woman director of the New York Stock Exchange in 1972, Kreps also broke the sex barrier in the board rooms of Western Electric, Eastman Kodak and J.C. Penney.

A liberal-leaning Democrat who says "I prefer Paul Samuelson to Milton Friedman politically," Kreps considers herself a moderate in economics. She would prefer, for example, that "the forces of competition resolve unemployment to the greatest extent possible, rather than have government do it." Kreps believes that businesses in the future may have to give more time off to employees in midcareer, adjust to the needs of working women, and cope with the problems of early retirement.

Several thorny problems await her at Commerce. She will be responsible for smoothing out problems that develop when the U.S. extends the twelve-mile fishing limit to 200 miles on March 1. There is also the question of legislation to deal with the Arab boycott of U.S. firms doing business with Israel. She must manage $2 billion in current public works spending, an amount that could grow with new economic stimulus. Finally, Kreps must look after the heavily subsidized but still sickly U.S. maritime fleet.

She may discover that the Commerce portfolio gives her relatively little Cabinet clout. Reason: Treasury, State and other departments impinge heavily on Commerce territory in vital economic matters, from international trade to fiscal and monetary policy. She will have an opportunity to influence the Administration, however, as a member of the Economic Policy Board, which meets daily to advise the President.

Kreps is unlikely to be bashful about speaking her mind. Within minutes of her appointment, she had already reproved Carter before a national TV audience. It would be hard, said she, "to defend the proposition that there are not a great many qualified women" to serve in the Cabinet. Replied Carter, who has tried to do exactly that: "I think she said she disagrees with me."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.