Axel A. Weber

Education

Weber was born in Kusel. He studied economics and public administration at the University of Constance from 1976 to 1982, graduating with a master's degree (Diplom) in economics.

Weber obtained a PhD in economics from the University of Siegen, in 1987. Thereafter, he pursued his scientific studies abroad at the University of London and Tilburg. Between 1992 and 1993, Weber spent an academic year in Washington, D.C. while teaching. In 1994, Weber received his habilitation in Economics from the University of Siegen, Germany. He also holds honorary doctorates from the University of Duisburg-Essen and the University of Constance.

Career

From 1982 to 1988 Weber worked as research assistant in the field of monetary economics at the University of Siegen and was awarded a Doctorate in 1987. After gaining his Habilitation at the University Siegen in 1994, he was appointed Professor of Economic Theory at the University of Bonn and in 1998 he moved to the Goethe University Frankfurt. He was also the Director of the Center for Financial Studies in Frankfurt am Main from 1998 to 2001 and of the Center for Financial Research at the University of Cologne from 2001 to 2004. In 2001 he was appointed Professor of International Economics at the University of Cologne, and from 2002 to 2004 he was a Member of the German Council of Economic Experts. From 2002 until 2011 he was a member of the expert advisory panel to the Deutsche Bundesbank. Weber was also on the Board of Directors for the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), German governor of the International Monetary Fund and a member of the G7 and G20 Ministers and Governors during this time. From 2010 to 2011 he was also a member of the Steering Committees of the European Systemic Risk Board and the Financial Stability Board. From 2011 to 2012 he was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Bundesbank

Weber was appointed President of the Deutsche Bundesbank by the German finance minister Hans Eichel as successor of the resigning Ernst Welteke and he was elected as a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank in 2004. On 9 February 2011 Weber announced that he would be resigning his chairmanship of the Bundesbank, effective 30 April 2011, a year before the expiry of his term of office. The move was seen as throwing open the candidacy for president of the European Central Bank to others to succeed Jean-Claude Trichet starting 1 November 2011.

University of Chicago

As visiting professor, Weber taught two three-hour sessions of the course "Central Banking: Theories and Facts" on Mondays, fall 2011. He attended the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's Economic Policy Symposium in Moran near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, summer 2011.

UBS AG

Weber was elected to the Board of Directors of the Swiss bank UBS AG at the 2012 AGM held on 3 May 2012 and of UBS Group AG in November 2014. He succeeded Kaspar Villiger as chairman of the Board of Directors. His appointment was announced in mid-2011, when Villiger had been expected to retire in 2013.

Axel A. Weber has chaired the Governance and Nominating Committee since 2012 and became Chairperson of the Corporate Culture and Responsibility Committee in 2013.

Other mandates and interests

He is currently a board member of

Weber also serves as a member of

He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Department of Economics at the University of Zurich, as well as of the Zukunft Finanzplatz.

Weber is also chairman of the DIW Berlin Board of Trustees.

In late 2015, he was awarded the title of "European Banker of the Year 2014" in Germany by the International Association of Economic Journalists called the Group of 20+1.