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Paul Volcker

International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Experience

In the course of his career, Mr. Volcker worked in the United States Federal Government for almost 30 years, culminating in two terms as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1979-1987. He divided the earlier stages of his career between the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Treasury Department, and the Chase Manhattan Bank.

Mr. Volcker retired as Chairman of Wolfensohn & Co. upon the merger of that firm with Bankers Trust. From 1996-1999, Mr. Volcker headed a committee formed to determine existing dormant accounts and other assets in Swiss banks of victims of Nazi persecution. From 2000-2005 Mr. Volcker served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee overseeing a renewed effort to develop consistent, high-quality accounting standards acceptable in all countries. In 2003, he headed a private Commission on the Public Service recommending a sweeping overhaul of the organization and personnel practices of the United States Federal Government.

In April 2004, Mr. Volcker was asked by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to chair the Independent Inquiry into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program. The report on the Inquiry was published in October 2005. In 2007, Mr. Volcker was asked by the President of the World Bank to chair a panel of experts to review the operations of the Department of Institutional Integrity. A report was published in September 2007. In November 2008, President Elect Obama chose Mr. Volcker to head the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

Pursuing his many continuing interests in public policy, Mr. Volcker is associated with the Japan Society, the Institute of International Economics, the American Assembly, and the American Council on Germany. He is Honorary Chairman of the Trilateral Commission and Chairman of the Trustees of the Group of 30.

Educated at Princeton, Harvard and the London School of Economics, Mr. Volcker is Professor Emeritus of International Economic Policy at Princeton University and was the first Henry Kaufman Visiting Professor at the Stern School of Business at NYU.