C. Fred Bergsten (born 1941) is an American economist, author, and political adviser. He has served as Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Treasury Department and has been director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, formerly the Institute for International Economics, since its founding in 1981. In addition to his academic work he makes his opinions known to the policy making community and engages with the public with television appearances[1] writing for influential periodicals such as Foreign Affairs magazine[2] and by writing books.
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Bergsten received a B.A. from Central Methodist University, during which time he pledged a fraternity, Alpha Phi Gamma, and then earned a MA, MALD, and Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He was a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations from 1967 to 1968. In 1969 he became Assistant for International Economic Affairs to Henry Kissinger at the National Security Council where he coordinated US foreign economic policy until 1971. From 1972 to 1976 he was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
From 1977 to 1981 he served at the U.S. Treasury Department as Assistant Secretary for International Affairs during the Carter administration.[1]
Bergsten was a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace during 1981. In that same year he founded the Washington-based think-tank, the Institute for International Economics; he remains director of that now renamed organization. He is a close associate of David Rockefeller, who is on the board of directors of the Peterson Institute.
In 1991, he was elected Chairman of the Competitiveness Policy Council, and he led the Council for several years with distinction. During his tenure, the Council issued four reports to the President and the Congress. From 1992 through 1995, he was also Chairman of the Eminent Persons Group of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, whose recommendations for achieving "free and open trade and investment in the region" by 2020 were agreed by the Leaders of the member economies.
In 2001, he co-founded the Center for Global Development along with Edward W. Scott, Jr. and Nancy Birdsall. He is now a member of the President's Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN) and co-chairman of the Private Sector Advisory Group to the Trade Policy Forum composed of the Trade Ministers of India and the United States.
Bergsten is married to Virginia Wood Bergsten. They have one son who grew up to be a doctor. Bergsten's wife also has three nephews and nieces: Grant Prater, (age 13) and Bryce Prater, (age 10) and Camryn Prater. (Age 7)[1]