Investing.com - Jerome Powell is a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and has served in this position since 2012. On November 2, President Donald Trump nominated Powell to succeed Janet Yellen as the head of the Federal Reserve. On December 5, the Senate Banking Committee approved Powell's nomination, and the nomination is currently pending a confirmation by the full Senate. Powell was born in 1953 in Washington D.C. He received a Bachelor of Arts in politics from Princeton University in 1975, and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown Law in 1979.Powell's career is a mix of public and private sector positions. After his studies, he became a clerk on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. A few years later, Powell then moved on to practice law at law firms and investment banks. In 1997, he became a partner in the Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG), and in 2010, Powell was a visiting scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank based in D.C.In December 2011, Powell was nominated by President Barack Obama to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors together with Jeremy C. Stein. His inclusion in the double nomination was meant to garner bipartisan support for the nominations. His monetary policy is largely viewed as slightly dovish, which brings many to view him as a direct continuation of Janet Yellen. Powell supports gradual rate hikes under the condition of an improving economy. His regulatory views are moderate, as he largely supported the Dodd-Frank reforms of 2010, while claiming that regulation can be done more efficiently. Powell has earned a reputation as a non-ideological and pragmatic policy maker, and his years at the helm of the Fed should be no different.