Alan Greenspan?

Greenspan was born in 1926 to a Hungarian Jewish family in the Washington Heights area of New York City.[9] The family name was anglicized from the German and Yiddish surname Grünspan[citation needed]. He studied clarinet at The Juilliard School from 1943 to 1944.[10] He is an accomplished saxophone player who played with Stan Getz.[11] While in college, he played in a jazz band[citation needed]. He then attended New York University (NYU) and received a B.S. in Economics (summa cum laude) in 1948 and an M.A. in Economics in 1950[citation needed]. Greenspan went on to Columbia University, intending to pursue advanced economic studies, but subsequently dropped out[citation needed]. At Columbia, Greenspan did study economics under the tutelage of future Fed chairman Arthur Burns, who constantly warned of the dangers of inflation. [12] Much later, in 1977, NYU also awarded him a Ph.D. in Economics. He may not have done a dissertation, normally required for that degree.[13]On December 14, 2005, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science degree by NYU, his fourth degree from that institution. [14]

In the early 1950s, Greenspan began an association with famed novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand that would last until her death in 1982.[15] He wrote for Rand’s newsletters and authored several essays in her book Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal.[16] Rand stood beside him at his 1974 swearing-in as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.[15]