Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday appointed Gregory Samorajski, former deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Revenue, as the next CEO of the Iowa Public Employee Retirement System. Samorajski replaces retiring CEO Donna Mueller, who has held that position since 2003. The appointment is effective May 1, and is subject to confirmation by the Iowa Senate.

“Protecting the retirement security of Iowa’s public employees, past and present, is a vitally important function of state government,” Reynolds said in a statement. “I believe Greg Samorajski has exactly the kind of experience and temperament to do the job well. Greg’s experience in institutional wealth management and in critical public sector pension roles will be so valuable to IPERS in the years ahead. I’m so grateful to Donna Mueller, who has ably led IPERS for 17 years and worked tirelessly on behalf of Iowa’s outstanding public employees.”

Samorajski was deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Revenue from December 2018 through early March. He is currently on assignment with the U.S. Department of Commerce to work on mitigating the economic impact of the COVID-19 virus.

In his tenure as deputy commissioner, Samorajski managed the staff of the Alaska Retirement Management Board. He has lived in Alaska since 1997, where he worked first as a portfolio manager and director of investments for McKinley Capital. At McKinley he managed money for large public pension plans and other institutional investors.

Before transferring to Alaska, Samorajski was a senior economist and manager of financial instruments at the Chicago Board of Trade. He has served on the faculties of the Illinois Institute of Technology and Alaska Pacific University.

The IPERS trust fund is valued at $34 billion and serves more than 368,000 members. It pays out about $2.2 billion annually, $1.9 billion of which is paid in Iowa.