Fischer, Stanley

(1943- )

   Citizen of the United States who was born in Zambia and appointed governor of the Bank of Israel in January 2005. He graduated from the London School of Economics with a B.S. and M.S. in economics (1962-66) and received his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1969. He became professor and head of the economics department. Fischer then worked as the vice president of developing economics and chief economist at the World Bank from January 1988 to August 1990. He served as the first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund from 1994 to 2001. In February 2002, he became vice chairman and president of Citigroup International, head of the Public Sector Client Group, and a member of the Citigroup Management Committee.

   Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nominated Fischer to become the governor of the Bank of Israel. On 9 January 2005, Fischer formally announced that he would take up the position and he did so on 1 May 2005.