Remembering Andrew Brimmer - Higher Education

Remembering Andrew Brimmer - Higher Education: First meeting Dr. Andrew F. Brimmer in 1985, I was as excited as a distant fan who finally meets a rock star, but I came to know him, not only as the intellectual giant he surely was, but as a supportive mentor, a caring friend and family man as well as a civic leader who was also deeply concerned about the socio-economic development of the Black community.

I likely learned about Dr. Brimmer’s historic appointment as the first African-American to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from my Oberlin College professor, Thomas Dernburg, who had served as staff on former President Johnson’s Council of Economic Advisors. At the University of Michigan, Professor Paul W. McCracken, who had served as a chair of President Nixon’s Council of Economic Advisors, praised Dr. Brimmer’s work during a Ph.D. forum. Naturally, I was quite impressed when, while assisting my mentor Dr. Alfred L. Edwards, I observed that he received a call for a freelance consulting job from the renowned Dr. Brimmer.