Andrew Brimmer
*Andrew Brimmer was born on this date in 1926. He was a Black economist, businessman, and author.
Born in Newellton, Louisiana, Brimmer was the son of sharecroppers and attended racially segregated schools. He served in the Army from 1945-1946 and then attended the University of Washington, receiving his bachelor's and master's degrees. In 1951 Brimmer received a Fulbright scholarship to study in India. He returned to the United States and enrolled in Harvard University in 1952, receiving his Ph.D. in 1957.
During his time at Harvard, Brimmer worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as an economist and established the central bank of Sudan. After graduation, he became assistant secretary of economic affairs in the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 1966 Brimmer began an eight-year term on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, becoming the first Black governor of the Federal Reserve.
In 1974, he taught at Harvard University for two years and then formed his own consulting company; Brimmer & Co. Brimmer was elected to the Washington Academy of Sciences in 1991, largely due to his published works on the nature and importance of central banking systems.
He served on the Tuskegee University Board of directors from 1965–2010 and as the board's chairman for the last 28 years on the board, making him the longest-serving chairman in the school's history. In 1997, Brimmer returned to the Federal Reserve and, in 1999, became vice chairman of the Federal Reserve. Brimmer married the former Doris Millicent Scott. They have one daughter, Esther Dianne Brimmer.
Andrew Brimmer died on October 7, 2012, at George Washington University Hospital in Washington.
