United States President-elect Joe Biden named former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as his nominee for secretary of the US Department of the Treasury.
Biden has selected a lineup that includes women and minorities. If they are confirmed, these people will shape policies during a time of profound economic upheaval for the nation.
“This team is comprised of respected and tested groundbreaking public servants who will help the communities hardest hit by COVID-19 and address the structural inequities in our economy,” Biden said in a statement.
Janet Yellen is a labour economist who became the first woman to head the US Federal Reserve. She is now set to become the first woman to lead the US Treasury.
Responding to her nomination, Janet Yellen marked the occasion by opening a Twitter account with a profile that reads: “Current nominee for Treasury Secretary. Former Fed Chair. Always an economist.”
She also composed an inaugural tweet, in which she promised to “work every day towards rebuilding” the American dream “for all” in her role as the head of the Treasury.
Nigerian born Adewale Wally Adeyemo is poised to join Janet Yellen at the Treasury. He is Biden’s nominee to serve as deputy secretary. If confirmed, he would become the first African American to hold that post.
Janet Yellen was born on August 13, 1946. She’s an economist at the Brookings Institution and a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, having taught economics as a professor for over 20 years from 1985 to 2006.
She served as the Chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018, and as Vice Chair from 2010 to 2014. She was the first woman to head the Federal Reserve.
In addition to her continued contributions to the field of economics, Janet Yellen is also noted for breaking down many gender barriers as a woman in the field.
Janet Yellen is married to George Akerlof. He is also an economist and Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences laureate. He’s a professor at Georgetown University and professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley.
The couple met in 1977 and got married in June 1978. Their son Robert Akerlof was born in June 1981. Robert Akerlof now teaches Economics at the University of Warwick.
Janet Yellen and Akerlof have collaborated on research, including topics such as poverty, unemployment and a paper on the costs of out-of-wedlock childbearing.
Janet Yellen net worth is $13 million. What a woman!
