Gardner Ackley

Who was Gardner Ackley?

Gardner Ackley, also known as H. Gardner Ackley, was an American economist and diplomat.

Ackley served as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers under President John F. Kennedy, and as the Chairman under President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1964 to 1968. He also served as Ambassador to Italy from 1968 to 1969. Ackley was a member of the University of Michigan faculty for 43 years and served as chair of its Economics department. Upon returning to the University following his ambassadorship, he was named the Henry Carter Adams Professor of Political Economy. In 1982 he served as President of the American Economic Association.

Ackley was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1915, and was raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan where he attended public schools and graduated from Western Michigan University in 1936. He earned a Ph.D from the University of Michigan in 1940, and joined the faculty that year. He served in the U.S. Office of Price Administration and the Office of Strategic Services in Washington, D.C., from 1941 to 1946 and as assistant director of the U.S. Office of Price Stabilization from 1951 to 1952.