Robert Greenstein (born 1946) is founder and former president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a Washington, D.C. think tank that focuses on federal and state fiscal policy and public programs that affect low and moderate-income families and individuals. For four decades he was considered the capitol's de facto lobbyist for the poor, where he "won countless fights that cumulatively directed hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars to programs for low-income people."

Biography

Born in the West Oak Lane, Philadelphia, West Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Greenstein graduated from Cheltenham High School, in nearby Wyncote, Pennsylvania, Wyncote, in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in 1963, and went on to earn his bachelor's magna cum laude at Harvard University with a National Merit Scholarship Program, National Merit Scholarship and Phi Beta Kappa, spent a year studying international history at the London School of Economics with a Frank Knox Memorial Fellowship, Knox Fellowship, and a following year studying toward a PhD in American history at the University of California, Berkeley with a Danforth Foundation, Danforth Fellowship and a The Institute for Citizens & Scholars, Wilson Fellowship.Schuman, Matt (July 25, 1996). "A Certifiable Genius: MacArthur Grant just Reinforces what these Local Parents Knew all Along". ''The Jewish Exponent''. Greenstein was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1996, and the 14th Annual Heinz Award in Public Policy in 2008. In 1994, he was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve on the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform. Prior to founding the Center, Greenstein was Administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service at the United States Department of Agriculture under President Jimmy Carter. In November 2011, Greenstein was included on ''The New Republic''s list of Washington's most powerful, least famous people.

References

External links

*
Tax and Spin : A think tank and its "genius." – Center for Budget and Policy Priorities head Robert Greenstein
* Steven Pearlstein, Pearlstein, Steven
"A Powerhouse for the Poor"
''Washington Post'', May 4, 2007, retrieved May 12, 2007. * Deparle, Jason

''New York Times'', February 22, 1994, retrieved March 28, 2008. * Pear, Robert

''New York Times'', December 15, 1994, retrieved October 25, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenstein, Robert Carter administration personnel Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Harvard University alumni Living people MacArthur Fellows United States Department of Agriculture officials 1946 births