Who is Janet Yellen?

Janet Yellen, who currently serves as Treasury Secretary of the United States, has been a part of the academia and public service sectors for over five decades. She is also the only person who has headed the three most crucial economic bodies of America: the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department and the White House Council of Economic Advisors.

Janet Yellen, 75, was born in Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge in 1946. According to her official website, Yellen’s father was a family physician and her mother was an elementary school teacher.

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Yellen was first associated with the Federal Reserve Board in 1976, before which she worked as an assistant professor at Harvard University. She completed her education at two Ivy League institutions: Brown University and Yale University.

Former US President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, roped in Janet Yellen. She was appointed to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. She was later escalated to the position of Chairperson of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and recession, Yellen was made the Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve by then-President Barack Obama. He later nominated Yellen as the successor to Fed Chair Benjamin Bernanke. Yellen was Chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 until 2018.

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Joe Biden announced in December 2020 that he will be nominating Yellen to take up the role of Treasury Secretary in his administration. “She understands what it means to people and their communities when they have good, decent jobs”, Biden said.

Throughout her career, Yellen has been presented with multiple honorary doctorates from various institutions. These include Bard College, Brown University, New York University, London School of Economics, University of Michigan, Univesity of Warwick, University of Baltimore and Yale University.