Philip Jefferson

Philip Nathan Jefferson
Born	1961/1962 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation	Economist
Years active	1990–present
Known for	23rd Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve

Philip Nathan Jefferson (born 1961/1962) is a prominent American economist currently holding the position of the 23rd Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve as of September 2023. His appointment to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors occurred in 2022 after President Joe Biden nominated him and the Senate confirmed his selection. Jefferson is noted as the fourth African American man to be appointed to this board.

Prior to his tenure at the Federal Reserve, Jefferson occupied several senior roles at Davidson College, including vice president for academic affairs, dean of faculty, and economics professor. His academic career also includes teaching appointments at Columbia University and Swarthmore College, alongside experience as a research economist within the Federal Reserve system.

Early life and education

Raised in the Kingman Park area of Washington, D.C., Jefferson completed his undergraduate studies at Vassar College, where he spent a year abroad at the London School of Economics. Additionally, he participated in the American Economic Association pipeline program. He earned his PhD from the University of Virginia in 1990.

Academic career

Following his doctoral studies, Jefferson began as an assistant professor at Columbia University, served as a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and worked as an economist for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. He joined Swarthmore College in 1997, teaching subjects such as econometrics, macroeconomics, and economic inequality, ultimately attaining the title Centennial Professor of Economics.

Jefferson was elected president of the National Economic Association in 2005 and has been a trustee of Vassar College since 2002. He also served on the Swarthmore Borough Council from 2008 until 2012. In 2019, he assumed the roles of vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty at Davidson College.

Nomination

President Biden put forward Jefferson’s nomination to join the Federal Reserve board of governors on January 14, 2022. After Senate Banking Committee hearings held on February 3, 2022, his nomination advanced with unanimous support (24–0) on March 16. The full United States Senate confirmed him on May 11 by a vote of 91–7.

In May 2023, Jefferson was nominated for the position of Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve, which is recognized as the board’s second-highest office. The Senate confirmed this appointment on September 6, 2023, with an 88–10 vote.

Selected works

• Jefferson, Philip N. Poverty: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2018.
• Jefferson, Philip N., editor. The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Poverty. Oxford University Press, 2012.
• Jefferson, Philip N., and Frederic L. Pryor. "On the geography of hate." Economics Letters 65, no. 3 (1999): 389–395.
• Jefferson, Philip N. "Does monetary policy affect relative educational unemployment rates?" American Economic Review 95, no. 2 (2005): 76–82.
• Jefferson, Philip N. "Seigniorage payments for use of the dollar: 1977–1995." Economics Letters 58, no. 2 (1998): 225–230.
• Jefferson, Philip N. "Educational attainment and the cyclical sensitivity of employment." Journal of Business & Economic Statistics 26, no. 4 (2008): 526–535.