Henry Kaufman (born October 20, 1927) is president of Henry Kaufman & Company, Inc., a firm established in April 1988, specializing in economic and financial consulting,[1] and is known by the nickname "Dr.Doom."[2]
Kaufman was born on October 20, 1927, inGedern, Germany. He was the son of akosher butcher in a small village in Germany. In 1937, the then-9-year-old Kaufman fledWenings, Germany and theNazis with his family.[3] He attended high school inWashington Heights, whereHenry Kissinger andAlan Greenspan preceded him by a year or two.[4] In 1948, he received a B.A. in economics fromNew York University, followed by an M.S. in finance fromColumbia University in 1949, and a Ph.D. in banking and finance fromNew York University Graduate School of Business Administration in 1958.[1]
Kaufman worked in commercial banking and served as an economist at theFederal Reserve Bank of New York. After the Federal Reserve, he spent 26 years withSalomon Brothers, where he was managing director, member of the executive committee, and in charge of the firm's four research departments. He was also a vice chairman of the parent company, Salomon Inc. He also served as a director of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and as chairman of the Lehman board's finance and risk committee.[5][6]
In the 1970s, Kaufman earned thesobriquet "Dr. Doom" when he was the chief economist at Salomon Brothers due to his frequent criticisms of government policies. On the morning of August 17, 1982, he accurately predicted the market had bottomed out which led to a huge rally that day in both stocks and bonds that was to be the beginning of the longestbull market in history.[4][7]
In 1987, Kaufman was awarded the first George S. Eccles Prize for excellence in economic writing from theColumbia Business School for his book,Interest Rates, the Markets, and the New Financial World. In June 2000,On Money and Markets, A Wall Street Memoir was published.[4] In August 2009,The Road to Financial Reformation was published. In 2017,Tectonic Shifts in Financial Markets: People, Policies, and Institutions was published.[8]
Besides his business activities, Kaufman is active in a number of public organizations in the following capacities: member of the board of trustees (and chairman emeritus),Institute of International Education,[9] member of the board of trustees and member of the investment committee,Norton Museum of Art, member (and chairman emeritus), board of overseers, Stern School of Business,New York University, member of the board of governors,Tel-Aviv University, member of the international advisory committee, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Fellow,American Academy of Arts & Sciences, former treasurer, TheEconomic Club of New York, honorary trustee (and former president), The Animal Medical Center, life trustee, New York University, life trustee, The Jewish Museum.[1] New York'sKaufman Music Center was named in recognition of major gifts from Kaufman and his wife Elaine.[10]
In 1982, Kaufman received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree fromNew York University,[11] an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree fromYeshiva University in 1986, and fromTrinity College in 2005. TheHenry Kaufman Professorship of Financial Institutions is named in his honor.[12]
