Janet Yellen
Secretary of Treasury
Janet Louise Yellen was born in August 1946 in Brooklyn, New York. She earned an undergraduate degree in economics with honors from Pembroke College in Brown University. She received a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University.
She was appointed assistant professor of economics at Harvard University where she taught for six years. She was recruited to become an economist with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and was assigned to research international monetary reform. She met her husband while she was at the Federal Reserve, and he had already accepted a teaching position at the London School of Economics. Yellen left her position to accompany him and was employed as an economics lecturer by the London School. They returned to the U.S. two years later, and Yellen joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, to conduct macroeconomics research and teach M.B.A. and undergraduate students. She remains a professor emerita at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
Yellen was appointed by President Clinton as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. She was confirmed by the Senate and served in that position for 30 months. She left that post to become chair of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers. At the end of President Clinton’s administration, she returned to Berkeley.
In 2004, Yellen was chosen as president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco and was a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee. In 2010, President Obama nominated Yellen as vice-chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. She was confirmed by a voice vote of the Senate. Three years later, she was nominated to be Chair of the Federal Reserve.
After eight years, Yellen joined the Brookings Institution think tank as a distinguished fellow in residence.
She was nominated to be the Secretary of the Treasury by then president-elect Joe Biden. Confirmed by the Senate, she is the first woman to hold that position.
She is married to George Akerlof and they have one child. She is Jewish.
In the News…
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated that a task force is meeting to assess the financial ramifications of the Baltimore Key Bridge’s recent collapse, saying, “We’re monitoring this very closely and prepared to take any steps that can be helpful.”
Secretary Yellen said that both the passive economic impact of the bridge’s closure and the expenses necessary to rebuild the bridge were in consideration, adding that the bridge is one of the most important trade corridors in the United States.
“My expectation would be that ultimately, there will be insurance payments in part to cover this, but we don’t want to allow worrying about where the financing is coming to hold up reconstruction,” the treasury secretary said.
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Secretary Yellen today? You can let her know at:
The Honorable Janet Yellen, Secretary
U.S. Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20220
