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Ministerial Biographies
Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, United Kingdom
Gordon Brown was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer on 2 May 1997. He has been MP for Dunfermline East since 1983 and was Shadow Chancellor from 1992.
Mr Brown was born in 1951 and educated at Kirkcaldy High School and Edinburgh University where he gained 1st Class Honours and then a Doctorate. From 1976 to 1980, Mr Brown lectured at Edinburgh University and then Caledonian University before taking up a post at Scottish TV in 1980.
Outside of work, Mr Brown's interests include football, tennis and film.
John W. Snow, Secretary of the Treasury, United States of America
John William Snow was nominated to be the 73rd Secretary of the Treasury on January 13, 2003. The United States Senate confirmed Snow to the position on January 30, 2003 and he was sworn into office on February 3, 2003.
Before being appointed to the Treasury, Mr Snow was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CSX Corporation. Mr Snow’s previous public service includes having served at the Department of Transportation as Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Deputy Undersecretary; Assistant Secretary for Governmental Affairs; and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Plans and International Affairs. Mr Snow has also served as Chairman of the Business Roundtable.
Mr Snow was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1939, and graduated in 1962 from the University of Toledo. He later earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Virginia and went on to teach economics.
Thierry Breton, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry, France
Thierry Breton was born in 1955 and was President of France Telecom from 2002 until 2005. Prior to this Mr Breton was President of Thomson multimedia and member of the executive management board of the Bull Group. Since the 1980s Mr Breton has also held senior posts at Forma Systems, Schneider Electric, Dexia and Axa. Mr Breton studied in Paris at the l'École supérieure d'électricité and the l'Institut des Hautes études de Défense nationale. Mr Breton has also been decorated by the National Order of the Legion of Honour and is Officer in the National Order of Merit.
Hon Ralph Goodale P.C., MP Minister of Finance, Canada
Ralph Goodale was appointed Minister of Finance on 12 December 2003. He was first elected as Member of Parliament in 1974 and returned to the House in October 1993 before being appointed Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food. He was re-elected in the 1997 and 2000 general elections and served as Minister of Natural Resources from June 1997 until January 2002, when he became Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. On 26 May 2002, he was appointed Minister of Public Works and Government Services. He has also been the Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians.
Mr. Goodale was raised on the family farm near Wilcox, Saskatchewan, and educated at the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan.
Giulio Tremonti, Minister of the Treasury and Budget, Italy
Mr Tremonti was born in Sondrio in 1947. He was previously a Professor at the University of Pavia's Faculty of Law and has published numerous scientific articles. He was elected a member of the Lower House of Parliament (Chamber of Deputies) in 1994 and served as Finance Minister in the first Berlusconi Government from May 1994 to January 1995 and Economy Minister in the second Berlusconi government from June 2001 to July 2004. He returned to the Finance Ministry in September 2005.
Sadakazu Tanigaki, Minister of Finance, Japan
Sadakazu Tanigaki was born in Kyoto in 1945 and graduated in Law from the University of Tokyo in 1972. Mr Tanigaki was appointed Minister of Finance in September 2003. He has held several ministerial posts since he was elected into public office in 1983 including Minister of State for Food Safety, Minister of State for Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan, and Minister of State for Science and Technology.
Peer Steinbruck, Federal Minister of Finance, Germany
Peer Steinbrück was appointed Federal Minister of Finance on 22 November 2005. He is also deputy Party Chairman and member of the Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Prior to this, Mr Steinbrück was Minister President of North Rhine/Westphalia from November 2002 to June 2005, and Finance Minister in the same region from February 2000 to November 2002. During the 1990's he served as State Secretary in the Ministry of Nature, Environment and Land Development of Schleswig-Holstein, and later as State Secretary and then as Minister at the Ministry of Economics, Technology and Transportation in Schleswig-Holstein.
Mr Steinbrück was born in Hamburg in 1947, studied economics and social sciences and graduated with a degree in economics from the Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel.