Robert Greenstein (born 1946)[1] is founder and former president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a Washington, D.C. think tank that focuses on federal and state fiscal policy and public programs that affect low and moderate-income families and individuals.[2] For four decades he was considered the capitol's de facto lobbyist for the poor, where he "won countless fights that cumulatively directed hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars to programs for low-income people."[1]

Bob Greenstein
Born1946 (age 77–78)
EducationHarvard University (BA)
London School of Economics
University of California, Berkeley
AwardsMacArthur Fellowship (1996)
Heinz Award in Public Policy (2008)

Biography edit

Born in the West Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Greenstein graduated from Cheltenham High School, in nearby Wyncote, in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in 1963, and went on to earn his bachelor's magna cum laude at Harvard University with a National Merit Scholarship and Phi Beta Kappa, spent a year studying international history at the London School of Economics with a Knox Fellowship, and a following year studying toward a PhD in American history at the University of California, Berkeley with a Danforth Fellowship and a Wilson Fellowship.[3][4]

Greenstein was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1996,[3] and the 14th Annual Heinz Award in Public Policy in 2008.[5] In 1994, he was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve on the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform.[6] Prior to founding the Center, Greenstein was Administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service at the United States Department of Agriculture under President Jimmy Carter.[7] In November 2011, Greenstein was included on The New Republic's list of Washington's most powerful, least famous people.[8]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Matthews, Dylan (November 22, 2022). "How One Man Quietly Stitched the American Safety Net over Four Decades". Vox. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  2. ^ Buckingham, Shannon (December 17, 2019). "Robert Greenstein to Step Down at End of 2020". Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Schuman, Matt (July 25, 1996). "A Certifiable Genius: MacArthur Grant just Reinforces what these Local Parents Knew all Along." Jewish Exponent. Retrieved via ProQuest database, 2017-02-17.
  4. ^ Robert Greenstein CV 2021 Brookings Institution
  5. ^ "Robert Greenstein". The Heinz Awards. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  6. ^ Pear, Robert (December 15, 1994). "Panel on a U.S. Benefits Overhaul Fails to Agree on Proposals". The New York Times.
  7. ^ Pear, Robert (February 17, 1982). "Totals For Food Stamps Are A Shifting Target". The New York Times.
  8. ^ The Editors (October 12, 2011). "Washington's Most Powerful, Least Famous People". The New Republic. Retrieved 2011-10-25. {{cite magazine}}: |last= has generic name (help)

External links edit