Chicago Booth’s Raghuram Rajan and Axel Weber appointed to G30

Raghuram Rajan [1] and Axel Weber [2], faculty members at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business [3], have been appointed to the Group of Thirty, an international body that examines the impact of financial and economic decisions in the public and private sectors.

The group also includes [4] Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, and other senior participants from public and private sectors and academia.

“The effectiveness of the G30 depends fundamentally upon the quality and stature of the Group’s members, and our new colleagues bring a wealth of experience and professional accomplishment to the Group,” said Jacob Frenkel, chairman of G30 Board of Trustees. Frenkel is also chairman of JPMorgan Chase International. 

Raghuram Rajan

Photo by Dan Dry

“The appointment of Raghuram Rajan and Axel Weber to the G30 is further recognition of their stature as leaders in the field,” said Sunil Kumar, Chicago Booth dean. “It also shows that Booth’s faculty influence is growing even stronger in the public debate over key issues affecting the world economy.”

In addition to studying the impact of financial and economic decisions in the public and private sectors, the G30 also analyzes the choices available to market practitioners and policymakers, and works to deepen understanding of international economic and financial issues.

“I am pleased to have these two outstanding individuals among our membership,” said Jean-Claude Trichet, chairman of the G30. “On behalf of the Group, we welcome the valuable contributions to the work program and intellectual life of the G30 that I am sure they will make in the years ahead,” said Trichet, former president of the European Central Bank.

Rajan is the Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at Booth. He joined the faculty in 1991 and took a leave of absence from 2003 to 2006 to serve as chief economist for the International Monetary Fund.   

Axel Weber

Copyright Deutsche Bundesbank

In addition to his research and teaching, Rajan is an economic advisor to the Prime Minister of India, a senior advisor to Booz and Co., BDT Capital, MCAP and a member of the international advisory board of Bank Itau-Unibanco in Brazil.

During the current academic quarter he is teaching courses in international corporate finance and the theory of financial decisions.

Weber is a visiting professor of economics at Booth and incoming chairman of UBS. He previously was president of the Deutsche Bundesbank and a member of the governing council of the European Central Bank.

Weber is also a research fellow at several economic institutes including the Center for Economic Policy Research in London, the Center for Financial Studies in Frankfurt and the Center for Financial Research in Cologne.

Earlier this academic year he taught an MBA course in central banking.