Ben Bernanke : Ask Biography

Personal data

Date of birth

December 13, 1953(age 62)

Place of birth

North Augusta, South Carolina, U.S.

Ethnicity

Jewish

Political party

Republican Party

Spouse

Anna Friedmann

Alma mater

Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Profession

Economist

Religion

Judaism

14th Chairman of the Federal Reserve

Assumed office

February 1, 2006

President

George W. Bush
Barack Obama

Deputy

Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
Donald Kohn
Janet Yellen

Preceded by

Alan Greenspan

23rd Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers

In office

June 2005 - January 2006

President

George W. Bush

Succeeded by

Edward Lazear

Preceded by

Harvey Rosen

Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

In office

September 2002 - June 2005

Nominated by

George W. Bush

Home | United States | Ben Bernanke

Ben Shalom Bernanke (-enbərˈnæŋki ; born December 13, 1953) is an American economist, and the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States. During his tenure as Chairman, Bernanke has overseen the response of the Federal Reserve to late-2000s financial crisis.

Bernanke was a tenured professor at Princeton University and was chair of the Department of Economics there from 1996 to September 2002, when he went on public service leave. From 2002 until 2005, he served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Here he outlined the Bernanke Doctrine and first spoke of the Great Moderation, where he postulated that we are in a new era, where modern macroeconomic policy has decreased the volatility of the business cycle. He then served as Chairman of President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers before President Bush appointed him to be Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve on February 1, 2006. Bernanke was confirmed for a second term as Chairman on January 28, 2010, after being nominated by President Barack Obama.