Paul Volcker

American economist, banker and administrator, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board 1979-1987. Volcker served as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRS) from 1979 to 1987. The FRS is an independent federal agency that directs the United States banking system and helps manage the nation's economy.

First appointed chairman by President Jimmy Carter, Volcker helped slow down inflation by curbing the growth of the nation's money supply, but many economist believe it also contributed to high unemployment. He was reappointed to the position by President Ronald Reagan in 1983.

Volcker graduated from Princeton in 1949 and earned a master's degree from Harvard two years later. In the early part of his career, he was with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Chase Manhattan Bank, and the Treasury Department. He was a director, trustee, or member of several corporations and nonprofit organizations. He was characterized as thoughtful and erudite - traits that served him well as chairman of the Fed's Board of Governors from 1979 to 1987. Volcker was succeeded as Federal Reserve Board chairman by Alan Greenspan in 1987.

After close to 30 years of federal government service at the Fed and the US Treasury, Volcker moved into the private sector of a Wall Street investment firm and was Professor of International Economic Policy at Princeton University.

On 3 May 2001, Volcker received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Delaware. He is the author, with Toyoo Gyohten, of "Changing Fortunes: The World's Money and the Threat to American Leadership," 1992.

Volcker died in New York City on 8 December 2019 at age 92. He had reportedly been treated for prostate cancer since being diagnosed the year prior.