Janet Yellen

Janet Yellen
Born	Janet Louise Yellen 13 8, 1946
Birthplace	New York City, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Economist, government official
Title	78th United States Secretary of the Treasury
Known for	First woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and as Chair of the Federal Reserve
Education	Yale University (MA, PhD)
Children	1
Awards	Janet L. Yellen Award for Excellence in Public Service (2026)

Janet Louise Yellen (born August 13, 1946) is an American economist who has held some of the most consequential economic policy positions in the United States government over a career spanning more than five decades. She served as the 78th United States Secretary of the Treasury from January 2021 to January 2025 under President Joe Biden, and as the 15th Chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018 under Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. In both roles, she was the first woman to hold the position. Born and raised in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, Yellen earned her undergraduate degree from Brown University and her doctorate in economics from Yale University, studying under Nobel laureate James Tobin. Over her career she has served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, vice chair of the Federal Reserve, and as a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. She holds the title of Eugene E. and Catherine M. Trefethen Professor of Business Administration and Economics, Emerita, at Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Since leaving the Treasury in 2025, Yellen has been an outspoken advocate for Federal Reserve independence and has warned about the risks posed by the growing U.S. national debt.

Early Life

Janet Louise Yellen was born on August 13, 1946, in New York City and grew up in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn. She was raised in a middle-class family in one of Brooklyn's residential neighborhoods. Bay Ridge, a community of row houses and tree-lined streets at the southwestern edge of the borough, provided a stable upbringing for Yellen, who would later recall the modest economic circumstances of her early years as formative in shaping her interest in how economic policy affects ordinary people.

Yellen demonstrated academic aptitude from an early age and attended local schools in Brooklyn. Her intellectual curiosity and strong performance in her studies positioned her for admission to competitive universities. Growing up in post-war New York City, she was part of a generation of American women who would begin to enter professional fields previously dominated by men, though the barriers she would encounter and ultimately break throughout her career were not yet apparent during her Brooklyn childhood.

The experience of growing up in a working-class neighborhood in Brooklyn informed Yellen's later focus on labor economics and employment — fields that would become central to her academic research and her approach to monetary and fiscal policy. Her upbringing instilled in her an awareness of the real-world consequences of economic conditions on families and communities, themes that would recur throughout her public career.

Education

Yellen attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967. At Brown, she distinguished herself as an outstanding student in economics, graduating summa cum laude and as valedictorian of her class, according to a profile in the Brown Alumni Magazine.

Following her undergraduate education, Yellen pursued graduate studies at Yale University, one of the leading institutions for economics in the United States. At Yale, she studied under James Tobin, the Nobel Prize–winning economist known for his work on monetary theory and fiscal policy. She was also advised by Joseph Stiglitz, another future Nobel laureate. Yellen completed her Master of Arts degree and then her Ph.D. in economics in 1971. Her doctoral dissertation was titled "Employment, Output and Capital Accumulation in an Open Economy: A Disequilibrium Approach," reflecting her early interest in macroeconomic dynamics and labor markets. Her fields of specialization included macroeconomics, labor economics, and what would later be termed New Keynesian economics — an approach that emphasizes the role of market imperfections and price rigidities in the economy.

Career

Early Academic Career (1971–1994)

After completing her doctorate, Yellen began her professional career in academia. From 1971 to 1976, she served as an assistant professor of economics at Harvard University, where she taught and conducted research in macroeconomics and labor economics. Her time at Harvard placed her among the faculty of one of the most prominent economics departments in the world during a period of significant theoretical ferment, as economists debated the causes of and remedies for stagflation and other macroeconomic challenges of the 1970s.

Yellen then moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked as a staff economist for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 1977 to 1978. This was her first exposure to the institutional workings of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, and it provided practical experience in monetary policy that complemented her academic training.

From 1978 to 1980, Yellen served on the faculty of the London School of Economics, an appointment that gave her an international perspective on economic policy and broadened her academic network. In 1980, she joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, where she became a member of the economics department and the Haas School of Business. She would hold her position at Berkeley — eventually rising to the rank of the Eugene E. and Catherine M. Trefethen Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Economics — for the remainder of her academic career, though she would take multiple leaves of absence for government service.

During her years at Berkeley, Yellen developed a body of academic work focused on macroeconomics and labor markets. Her research contributed to the development of New Keynesian economics, particularly in understanding why wages and prices do not always adjust quickly to changes in economic conditions — a phenomenon known as "sticky prices" and "sticky wages." This research had direct implications for monetary policy, as it suggested that central banks could play an active role in stabilizing the economy and reducing unemployment.

Federal Reserve Board of Governors and Council of Economic Advisers (1994–1999)

In 1994, President Bill Clinton nominated Yellen to serve as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and she was confirmed to the position, serving from August 12, 1994, to February 17, 1997. Her appointment brought her back into the orbit of the Federal Reserve, this time as a policymaker with a vote on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the body responsible for setting U.S. monetary policy. During this period, the Federal Reserve under Chairman Alan Greenspan navigated a period of economic expansion while seeking to maintain low inflation.

Upon leaving the Board of Governors in 1997, Yellen was named by President Clinton to serve as the 18th Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), a position she held from February 18, 1997, to August 3, 1999. The CEA is a White House agency that advises the president on economic policy, and the chair of the CEA is one of the president's principal economic advisors. In this role, Yellen helped shape the Clinton administration's economic policy during a period of sustained economic growth and federal budget surpluses. She succeeded Joseph Stiglitz, her former doctoral advisor at Yale, in the position.

After her service in the Clinton administration, Yellen returned to the University of California, Berkeley, where she resumed her academic career.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (2004–2010)

In 2004, Yellen was appointed president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, one of the twelve regional reserve banks in the Federal Reserve System. She succeeded Robert Parry in the role and served from June 14, 2004, to October 4, 2010. The San Francisco Fed oversees the largest Federal Reserve district by geography, covering nine western states plus American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Yellen's tenure as San Francisco Fed president coincided with the build-up to and onset of the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression. In this capacity, she was among the Federal Reserve officials who grappled with the collapse of the housing market, the crisis in the financial system, and the subsequent deep recession. Her assessments of economic conditions during this period were closely watched, and she was noted for her attention to the labor market and the human costs of the downturn.

Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve (2010–2014)

In 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Yellen to serve as vice chair of the Federal Reserve, replacing Donald Kohn. She assumed the role on October 4, 2010, and simultaneously became a member of the Board of Governors. As vice chair, Yellen served as the second-ranking official in the Federal Reserve System under Chairman Ben Bernanke during a period in which the central bank was employing extraordinary monetary policy measures — including near-zero interest rates and large-scale asset purchases known as quantitative easing — to support the economic recovery from the Great Recession.

In her role as vice chair, Yellen was a key voice within the Federal Reserve's leadership, and she became known for her focus on the dual mandate of the Federal Reserve: promoting maximum employment and stable prices. She was noted for her analytical rigor and her emphasis on the importance of reducing unemployment, which remained elevated in the years following the financial crisis.

Chair of the Federal Reserve (2014–2018)

On October 9, 2013, President Obama nominated Yellen to succeed Ben Bernanke as chair of the Federal Reserve. The U.S. Senate confirmed her nomination on January 6, 2014, by a vote of 56 to 26. She was sworn in on February 3, 2014, becoming the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve in its then-100-year history.

As chair, Yellen presided over a period of gradual economic recovery and normalization of monetary policy. She oversaw the end of the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program and, in December 2015, led the FOMC in raising the federal funds rate for the first time since the onset of the financial crisis, a decision that signaled growing confidence in the strength of the economic recovery. Under her leadership, the Federal Reserve continued to raise interest rates incrementally, while also beginning the process of reducing the Federal Reserve's balance sheet, which had expanded significantly during the crisis-era asset purchase programs.

Yellen's tenure as chair was characterized by an emphasis on clear communication and forward guidance — the practice of signaling the likely future path of monetary policy to markets and the public. She continued and expanded the press conference format that Bernanke had introduced, and she was noted for her careful, data-driven approach to policy decisions. Her leadership of the Federal Reserve was also marked by a continued focus on employment and the labor market, consistent with her longstanding academic and policy interests.

In November 2017, President Donald Trump announced that he would not renominate Yellen for a second term as chair, instead nominating Jerome Powell, who had served as a governor on the Federal Reserve Board. Yellen's decision not to remain on the Board of Governors after her term as chair expired was announced on November 20, 2017. She was the first Fed chair in nearly four decades not to be reappointed to a second term.

Brookings Institution (2018–2020)

After departing the Federal Reserve in February 2018, Yellen joined the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., as a distinguished fellow in residence with the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy. At Brookings, she continued to contribute to economic policy discourse through research, writing, and public speaking engagements. Her affiliation with the nonpartisan think tank provided a platform from which she engaged in public commentary on monetary policy, fiscal policy, and economic conditions. She remained at Brookings until 2020, when she was called back into government service.

Secretary of the Treasury (2021–2025)

On November 30, 2020, President-elect Joe Biden announced his intention to nominate Yellen to serve as the 78th United States Secretary of the Treasury. Her nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 25, 2021, making her the first woman to hold the position. She was sworn in on January 26, 2021, by Vice President Kamala Harris. She succeeded Steven Mnuchin, who had served under President Trump, and was succeeded by Scott Bessent upon the change in administration on January 20, 2025.

As Treasury Secretary, Yellen oversaw the department during a period of significant economic challenges and policy action. Her tenure coincided with the ongoing economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the passage of major fiscal legislation including pandemic relief measures and infrastructure spending, and the emergence of elevated inflation that became a central economic and political concern. The Treasury Department under Yellen also played a role in the implementation of international economic sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Yellen served as the Biden administration's chief economic spokesperson and was involved in negotiations over the federal debt ceiling, which became a recurring source of political contention. She repeatedly warned about the catastrophic consequences of a potential U.S. default on its debt obligations. Her deputy throughout her tenure was Wally Adeyemo, who served as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.

Her tenure ended on January 20, 2025, when President Trump took office for a second term and Scott Bessent was nominated and subsequently confirmed as her successor.

Post-Treasury Career (2025–present)

Following her departure from the Treasury, Yellen returned to the Brookings Institution as a distinguished fellow in residence in the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy. She has remained active in public discourse on economic issues. In January 2026, she publicly warned that the U.S. national debt, which had reached approximately $38 trillion, was approaching a threshold that economists had long cautioned about, raising concerns about "fiscal dominance" — a scenario in which the level of government debt begins to constrain monetary policy options.

Yellen has also been a vocal advocate for the independence of the Federal Reserve from political interference. In January 2026, she described a reported Department of Justice investigation into current Fed Chair Jerome Powell as "extremely chilling" for Fed independence, stating that markets should be concerned about such developments. In July 2025, she co-authored an opinion article in The New York Times with former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, arguing that the ability of the central bank to act independently is essential to economic stability.

In a July 2025 interview with The New Yorker, Yellen discussed what she described as the danger of a "banana republic" economy, commenting on fiscal policy, the federal deficit, and interest rate policy. She also visited Brandeis University in October 2025 as a guest speaker.

Personal Life

Janet Yellen is married to George Akerlof, a Nobel Prize–winning economist known for his research on information asymmetry, including his seminal paper "The Market for Lemons." The couple met while both were at the Federal Reserve, and they have one child together. Akerlof received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2001 for his work on markets with asymmetric information.

The couple has been based in the San Francisco Bay Area for much of their married life, where both held faculty positions at the University of California, Berkeley. Their son, Robert Akerlof, has followed his parents into the field of economics and has worked as an academic economist.

Yellen and Akerlof have co-authored academic papers on a range of economic topics, making them one of the more prominent husband-and-wife teams in the economics profession. Their shared intellectual interests and academic collaborations have been noted in profiles of both economists.

Yellen is a member of the Democratic Party.

Recognition

Throughout her career, Yellen has received numerous honors reflecting her contributions to economics and public policy. Her role as the first woman to serve as Chair of the Federal Reserve and as Secretary of the Treasury has been noted as a significant milestone in the representation of women in senior economic policymaking positions in the United States.

In January 2026, Yellen received the inaugural Janet L. Yellen Award for Excellence in Public Service, established by the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP). The award, which bears her name, recognizes contributions to public service in the field of economics. Yellen delivered remarks upon receiving the honor at a ceremony, reflecting on her career in government and her experiences as a woman in the economics profession.

Yellen has also been recognized by Brown University for her distinguished career as an alumna. She has been featured in numerous lists of influential and powerful women, and her career has been the subject of extensive media coverage, including profiles in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and The Guardian.

Legacy

Janet Yellen's career has spanned the most significant economic institutions in the United States, and her cumulative record of service places her among the most experienced economic policymakers in American history. She is the only person to have led the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, and the Council of Economic Advisers — the three most prominent economic policy roles in the U.S. government. Her accomplishments as the first woman in two of those positions — the Treasury and the Federal Reserve — represent milestones in the history of American governance and the economics profession.

Yellen's academic contributions to New Keynesian economics, particularly her work on labor markets and the causes of unemployment, informed her approach to policymaking. Her emphasis on the human costs of economic downturns — including unemployment and wage stagnation — distinguished her within the Federal Reserve, where she consistently advocated for policies attentive to the employment side of the central bank's dual mandate.

Her tenure as Fed chair is associated with the successful normalization of monetary policy following the Great Recession, including the first interest rate increase in nearly a decade in 2015. Her leadership during a period of sustained, if gradual, economic recovery solidified her reputation as a careful and methodical policymaker.

Since leaving government, Yellen has continued to shape public discourse on economic policy. Her public advocacy for Federal Reserve independence, expressed through op-eds, interviews, and public appearances, has placed her at the center of debates about the relationship between the central bank and the executive branch. Her warnings about the growing national debt and the risks of fiscal dominance have contributed to ongoing policy discussions about the long-term sustainability of U.S. fiscal policy.

The establishment of the Janet L. Yellen Award for Excellence in Public Service by the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession reflects her status as a figure of particular significance for women in economics and in public life more broadly.