Yanis Varoufakis
Economist
In 2015, this high-ranking economist served as Greece's Minister of Finance. Earlier in his career, he headed the Doctoral Program in Economics at the University of Athens and worked for the Valve Corporation.
He earned his bachelor's degree and doctorate in economics from England's University of Essex and obtained a master's degree in statistics from the University of Birmingham.
He held teaching appointments at the University of East Anglia, the University of Essex, the International University College of Turin, and the University of Texas at Austin.
A native of Palaio Faliro, Greece, he is the son of Greek Civil War fighter and communist Giorgos Varoufakis.
He decided to pursue a career in economics after making the acquaintance of Greek economist and Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou.