Age: 58
Occupation: Federal Reserve chairman
In the midst of a slow economic recovery and stubbornly high unemployment, Bernanke has faced the challenge of sparking the economy and creating jobs while avoiding inflation and managing a Congress and public distrustful of the Federal Reserve's expansive power. To do so, he has found innovative ways to stimulate the credit markets and launched an effort to be more open about some elements in the Fed's decisionmaking.