Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 26, 2001

Volume 30, Number 8

William C. Brainard

Conference honors economist William Brainard

Current and former students and colleagues of William C. Brainard, the Arthur Okun Professor of Economics, will gather for a conference in his honor Friday and Saturday, Oct. 26 and 27.

The tribute to Brainard, a specialist in economic theory, macro-economics and monetary theory who served as provost of the University 1981-86, will include talks and discussions featuring such noted economists as Alice Rivlin, former director of the White House Office of Management and Budget; Edward Gramlich, a member of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System; Jeffrey Shafer, former U.S. undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs; George Perry, who was a senior economist on the President's Council of Economic Advisers under President Kennedy; Jeremy Bulow, director of the Bureau of Economics for the Federal Trade Commission; and Dale Henderson, associate director of the Division of International Finance of the Federal Reserve Board.

The conference will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Friday in the Department of Economics common room, 28 Hillhouse Ave. There will be two sessions on Friday. The 1:45 p.m. session will explore the topics "Economic Theory, Investor Behavior and Financial Markets"; it will be followed with a 4 p.m. session on "Public Economics."

Three sessions will be featured on Saturday. At 9:30 a.m., participants will explore the theme "Financial Intermediaries and Individual Saving for Retirement." "International Economic Policy" will be the subject of the second session at 1 p.m., and "Current Issues in Macroeconomic Policy" will be addressed in the final session at 3:30 p.m. All are welcome to attend the conference sessions.

Yale participants include chief investment officer David Swensen and faculty members Herbert Scarf, John Geanakoplos, James Friedman, William Nordhaus, T.N. Srinivasan and Donald Brown.

Brainard has taught at Yale since 1962, when he joined the faculty after earning his M.A. in economics in 1959 from the University. He earned his Ph.D. from Yale in 1963. In addition to his role as provost, he twice served as director of Yale's Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics and also chaired the economics department. He was appointed the Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Economics in 1987 and became the first faculty member to hold the Arthur Okun Professorship in 1991. In 1996, Brainard was elected chair of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. A fellow of the Econometric Society and a member of the American Economic Association, he has served as coeditor of the Brooking Papers on Economic Activity.

"Bill Brainard has been an inspiration for students and colleagues from his earliest days as a graduate student to his later positions as teacher, editor, chairman, provost and kibitzer-in-chief," says colleague Nordhaus. "No puzzle is too arcane for his head, and no anxiety is too mundane for his heart. Yale is a greater and more humane institution because of his presence over a long and distinguished career."

For further information on the conference, call (203) 432-3709.

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