Andrew Brimmer
Andrew Brimmer | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13 September 1926 Newellton, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | 7 October 2012 (aged 86) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Economist, corporate executive |
| Years active | 1950s–2012 |
| Known for | First African American member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors |
Andrew Felton Brimmer (September 13, 1926 – October 7, 2012) was a distinguished American economist and corporate executive who held a position on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors between 1966 and 1974. Affiliated with the Democratic Party, Brimmer was notably the first African American appointed to this influential board.
Early life and education
Born in Newellton, located in Tensas Parish, Louisiana, Brimmer grew up in a sharecropping family. He attended racially segregated schools and completed his secondary education at Tensas Rosenwald High School in St. Joseph, Louisiana. After serving in the United States Army from 1945 to 1946, he pursued higher education at the University of Washington in Seattle, earning both his bachelor's and master's degrees. In 1951, he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study in India, and subsequently enrolled at Harvard University in 1952, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1957.
Career
During his time at Harvard, Brimmer gained experience as an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and played a role in founding the central bank of Sudan. Following his doctorate, he took on the role of assistant secretary of economic affairs within the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to the Federal Reserve's board of governors, making him the first African American to serve on the board; he held this position for eight years. Afterward, Brimmer spent two years teaching at Harvard before launching his own consulting firm, Brimmer & Company. Additionally, he was a trustee for Economists for Peace and Security.
Brimmer dedicated nearly half a century to serving on the board of directors at Tuskegee University, from 1965 until 2010, including a record-setting 28 years as chairman.
Awards and honors
- National Business League’s government man of the year, 1963
- Arthur S. Flemming Award recipient, 1966
- Russwurm Award honoree, 1966
- Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement, 1967
- Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1970
- National Urban League Equal Opportunity Award winner, 1974
- Horatio Alger Award recipient, 1974
- Elected member of the American Philosophical Society, 1976
- Distinguished Lecturer for Fulbright’s 40th Anniversary in Ghana and Nigeria, 1986
- Awarded the Samuel Z. Westerfield Award by the National Economic Association, its highest distinction, 1990
- Black Enterprise A.G. Gaston Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, 2007
In recognition of his legacy, the American Economic Association inaugurated the "Andrew Brimmer Undergraduate Essay Prize" in 2020. This award honors U.S. undergraduates majoring in economics or related disciplines who submit essays addressing economic issues affecting Black Americans.
Personal life and death
Brimmer was married to Doris Millicent Scott. They had one daughter named Esther Dianne Brimmer. His grandson is playwright Nathaniel Brimmer-Beller.
He passed away on October 7, 2012, at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Bibliography
- Life insurance companies in the capital market (1962), Bureau of Business and Economic Research, Michigan State University
- Brimmer Nomination: Hearing Before the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate (1965), U.S. Government Printing Office
- The Economic Potential of Black Capitalism (1969), Statements and Speeches of Andrew F. Brimmer, Fraser, St. Louis Fed
- Monetary Policy and the International Diffusion of Interest Rates (1982), International Banking Center & Department of Economics, Florida International University
External links
- Collection of Andrew Brimmer's Statements and Speeches throughout his service at the Federal Reserve
- Scholarly articles authored by Andrew Brimmer on JSTOR
Archives and records
- Andrew F. Brimmer archival materials, housed at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School
- Pages with script errors
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1926 births
- 2012 deaths
- Academics from Louisiana
- African-American economists
- American economists
- American financial businesspeople
- Federal Reserve economists
- Federal Reserve System governors
- Harvard Business School alumni
- Harvard University faculty
- People from Newellton, Louisiana
- University of Washington alumni
- Lyndon B. Johnson administration personnel
- Nixon administration personnel
- Ford administration personnel
- Members of the American Philosophical Society