Lael Brainard is an American economist who has been the Federal Reserve’s vice chair since May 23, 2022. Brainard is expected to be the White House’s top economic advisor chosen by President Joe Biden. She would replace Brian Desse, who will resign from the position as the Director of the White House National Economic Council this month.
Who Is Lael Brainard?
Lael Brainard serves as the vice chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System since May 2022. Brainard is expected to take over the position of the Director of the White House National Economic Council soon.
Since June 2014, she has served on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, having been appointed by then-president Barack Obama to complete a term that was due to expire in 2026.
She had received support from the left wing of the Democratic Party as President Biden considered her a potential choice to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed chair.
In 2021, the White House announced that Powell would be renominated for another four-year term as the Fed chair and that Brainard would be nominated to fill the vacant ice chair position.
On April 26, 2022, the Senate voted to approve Brainard as the Fed’s vice chairperson.
Lael Brainard Early Life
Lael Brainard is the daughter of an American diplomat. She was born on January 1, 1962, in Hamburg and raised in Poland and West Germany. She was born before the revolutions of 1989 and the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
Lael Brainard Educational Background
Lael Brainard earned a degree from Wesleyan University in 1983. As a National Science Foundation Fellow, she made a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1989.
Brainard spent six years as a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before becoming an economic counselor to the Clinton administration in 1997. From 2001 to 2009, she served as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Lael Brainard Career
Lael Brainard began her career working as a strategic adviser to corporate customers at McKinsey & Company. She worked at the MIT Sloan School of Management from 1990 to 1996 as an assistant and associate professor of applied economics.
From 2001 to 2009, Brainard served as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. From 2006 to 2009, she served as vice president and director of the Global Economy and Development Program.
During the Clinton administration, Brainard worked as the deputy assistant to the president and national economic advisor beginning in 1997.
She assisted in creating a new White House institution to address global economic issues like the Asian financial crisis and China’s entrance to the World Trade Organisation while serving as the National Economic Council’s deputy director.
In 2009, Brainard was proposed by President Obama to hold the position of Under Secretary for International Affairs. In late 2009, the Senate Finance Committee approved Brainard’s appointment as Treasury Department’s top global diplomat, which would give her a crucial role in persuading China to adopt a flexible currency.
President Barack Obama nominated Brainard for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in January 2014. In June 2014, she was approved by the Senate by a vote of 61-31. In June 2016, she took office.
Also Read: The College Board Responds To Florida’s Rejection Of The Ap African American Studies Course
In addition to being the chair of the Committee on Financial Stability, Committee on Federal Reserve Bank Affairs, Committee on Consumer and Community Affairs, Committee on Payments, clearing and settlements, and Subcommittee on Smaller Regional and Community Banking Organisations, Brainard also serves as the Administrative Governor of the Federal Reserve system.
President Joe Biden nominated Brainard as the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve on November 22, 2021. In January 2022, her initial nomination was withdrawn since it was about to expire and was sent back to President Biden. The following day, President Biden renominated her.
Brainard succeeded Alice Rivlin and Janet Yellen as the third woman to hold the position of Federal Vice Chairperson.
Lael Brainard Awards and Recognitions
Lael Brainard is the recipient of a White House Fellowship and an International Affairs Fellowship from the Council on Foreign Relations. Her work at the Treasury Department led her to win the Alexander Hamilton Award.
In 2019, she also received the Harvard GSAS Centennial Medal and the William. F. Butler Award from the New York Association of Business Economics.
Lael Brainard Personal Life
Lael Brainard, the 61-year-old American Journalist married Kurt M. Campbell in 1998. Ciara Campbell, Caelan Campbell, and Chloe Campbell are the three children of Brainard and Campbell.
Her husband was formerly the Obama administration’s Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He established The Asia Group, LLC in February 2013 and serves as its chairman and CEO.
She was born as the daughter of Albert Brainard and Joanne Brainard. Her father was an American diplomat. There isn’t any information available about her siblings.
Lael Brainard’s Net Worth
Lael Brainard is supposed to have an estimated net worth of $20 million. Her work as a Federal Reserve official is her primary source of income. The 61-year-old economist is considered among the most influential women in the United States.
