Kaufman, Edward E. (Edward Emmett), 1939-

Edward Emmett Kaufman (born March 15, 1939) is a retired American politician and businessman. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Delaware from 2009 to 2010.

Born in Philadelphia, he graduated from Central High School before earning a B.S. from Duke University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He moved to Delaware to work for Dupont as an engineer. In 1972 he joined Joe Biden's U.S. Senate campaign, which was considered to be a long shot, on a volunteer basis. After Biden's surprise victory in 1972, he took a one-year leave of absence from DuPont to organize and head Senator Biden's Delaware Office. In 1976 he became Biden's Chief of Staff and administrative assistant and served until 1995, also working on Biden's subsequent Senate campaigns.

From August 1995 to December 2008, Kaufman was a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) – the independent, autonomous, federal entity responsible for all U.S. government and government-sponsored non-military international broadcasting. He was appointed to the BBG by Presidents Clinton and Bush and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate for four terms. On November 24, 2008, Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner announced her intention to appoint Kaufman to replace Biden in the Senate. He was appointed on January 15, 2009, the same day Biden resigned his seat, and was sworn in the next day. As Senator, Kaufman served on the Foreign Relations, Armed Services, Judiciary, and Homeland Security Committees. In addition to his work on these committees he was deeply involved in the Dodd Frank Wall Street reform, advocating for science technology engineering and math (STEM) education, and highlighting the value of federal employees.

Kaufman served in the Senate until his successor, Chris Coons, was elected in a special election in 2010 to finish out the term. Kaufman chose not to run for a full term. After he left the Senate he was the Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and was a member of the Federal Working Group on Streamlining Paperwork for Executive Nominations. He is presently a Visiting Professor of the Practice at the Duke University Law School. Over the last 24 years he has taught courses at Duke’s Law School, Sanford School of Public Policy, and Fuqua School of Business.