The Johns Hopkins SAIS Path to the Federal Reserve

Ben Kupferberg
Master of Arts ’16
Energy, Resources and Environment
Second Year: SAIS Europe

As an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University, Ben studied economics and served as a research assistant focusing on foreign currencies and the installation of currency boards. The combination of his coursework and research sparked his interest in one day working for the Federal Reserve. Ben applied to Johns Hopkins SAIS because it seemed like the perfect pathway to that goal, with a true focus on international economics. He was also inspired by alumni such as former US Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner and the current President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Dennis P. Lockhart, who met with Ben and contributed to his confidence that he was making the right decision to attend Johns Hopkins SAIS.

Additionally, Ben believes spending his last semester at SAIS Europe provided him with a valuable Eurocentric perspective on many of the same global trends that he studied from an American perspective during his first year in Washington, DC. For example, when he attended the UN IAEA Diplomatic Ball in Vienna with the Johns Hopkins SAIS delegation, he took the opportunity to arrange a meeting with Kurt Höfling, the head of the Planning Department of Wiener Linien, in which they discussed the potential for further transportation integration and increased use of renewable energy within Vienna’s public transportation system. As a result of these experiences, Ben said he feels more prepared for his professional career.

After graduating in May, Ben will begin working as an investment banking analyst for Jefferies LLC in New York City.