Andrew Brimmer

Andrew Felton Brimmer (born on September 13, 1926) is a noted economist, academic, and business leader who was the first African American to have served as governor of the Federal Reserve.

Early life and education

Brimmer was born in Newellton in Tensas Parish, Louisiana, to a family of sharecroppers. He attended racially segregated schools and graduated from the former Tensas Rosenwald High School in St. Joseph, Louisiana. Thereafter, he served in the U.S. Army from 1945-1946. He then attended the University of Washington in Seattle, where he obtained both his bachelor's and master's degrees. In 1951, Brimmer received a Fulbright scholarship to study in India and then enrolled in Harvard University in 1952. He received his Ph.D. in 1957

The Federal Reserve and other work

During Brimmer's time at Harvard, he also worked at the Federal New York Bank of New York as an economist, and established the central bank of the Sudan. After graduation, Brimmer became assistant secretary of economic affairs in the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 1966, under appointment from U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, Brimmer began an eight-year term on the board of governors of the Federal Reserve, becoming the first African American in that position. In 1974, Brimmer left the Federal Reserve and taught at Harvard University for two years. Thereafter, he formed his own consulting company, Brimmer & Co. He is a trustee of the Economists for Peace and Security. Andrew eventually got married to Doris Millicent Scott,and they had a daughter named Esther Dianne Brimmer.

External links

* [http://www.umass.edu/economics/Staff/brimmer.html Biography at UMass]