Why He's No. 30

Ben S. Bernanke was sworn in on February 1, 2006, as Chairman and a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Dr. Bernanke also serves as Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee, the System's principal monetary policymaking body. He was appointed as a member of the Board to a full 14-year term, which expires January 31, 2020, and to a four-year term as Chairman, which expires January 31, 2010.

Back Stage

Ben Bernanke is a well known American economist and former member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in the United States. He became Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve in 2006. Ben Bernanke was born on December 13, 1953 in Augusta, Georgia. He later moved to Dillon, South Carolina where he grew up under the watchful eyes of his father, a pharmacist, and his mother, a school teacher. The Bernankes were one of few Jewish families in the area and regularly attended the local synagogue by the name of Ohav Shalom. Young Ben Bernanke followed the customs of his faith, learning Hebrew from his grandfather who was also a professional teacher of Hebrew and a Torah reader.



As a boy, Ben Bernanke attended East Elementary for his preliminary education followed by J.V. Martin Junior High and Dillon High School. Bernanke was a stellar student and even went beyond the confines of the classroom to teach himself calculus and edit the school newspaper. He later graduated as valedictorian of his class and achieved a 1590 (out of 1600) on his SATs, the highest SAT score in South Carolina for that year. After graduating high school in 1971, Bernanke attended Harvard College from which he graduated in 1975 with a degree in economics. Ben Bernanke was quick to continue his education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he received a PhD in economics in 1979. Just after graduation, Bernanke began teaching at the Stanford Graduate School of Business until 1985 when he changed schools to teach at New York University. He continued his teaching career at Princeton University as a tenured professor and eventually ended up as the chairman of the Department Economics from 1996 until 2002.



During his time at Princeton, Bernanke became well known for his lectures worldwide and even wrote three textbooks on macroeconomics and one on microeconomics. For a time, Bernanke even edited the American Economic Review. Ben Bernanke eventually resigned from his possition at Princeton in 2002 but continued to work in economics. He liked to focus on the idea of "deflation" of the dollar and its influence over the economy. Bernanke became known for his beliefs that the government can prevent deflation by simply printing more money and therefore create "inflation". His views were based more on monetary policy rather than fiscal policy and Bernanke defended his positions by stating that politicians were hired to determine taxation and deficits. Bernanke eventually became Chairman of the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) in January 2005 and remained with the CEA until January 2006. He was also a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve from 2002 to 2005. President George W. Bush appointed him as Chairman of the Federal Reserve on October 24, 2005 and he was sworn in on February 1, 2006. He succeeded Alan Greenspan as Chairman of the Reserve. The chairmanship for the Federal Reserve typically lasts 14 years. Bernanke lives with his wife. Together they have two children.

Forcaste

Being the chairman of the United States President's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) and taking over the position of Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve (Fed Reserve Chairman) from Alan Greenspan.