During the past four decades he has served in a series of senior policy positions, 71st Secretary of the Treasury for President Clinton, Director of the National Economic Council for President Obama and the Chief Economist of the World Bank.

In 1987 Mr. Summers became the first social scientist ever to receive the annual Alan T. Waterman Award of the National Science Foundation (NSF). In 1993, he was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal, given every two years to the outstanding American economist under the age of 40.