Janet Yellen: First woman ever to head the US central bank

The US Senate has given the final approval to Janet Yellen to become the first woman ever to head the US central bank 'Federal Reserve'.   

Key Points:

• She won the nomination by 56 votes to 26.
• Nominated by president Obama in October her appointment was subject to approval by the Senate.
• She will succeed the incumbent Ben Bernanke whose second four-year term as such expires on January 31, 2014.
• She is currently the vice chairperson of the Federal Reserve.
• She needed only 51 votes; thanks to the recent change in rules that now requires only a simple majority to get through.
• Previously a nominee needed at least 60 votes out of the total 100 in Senate to overcome the threat of a filibuster.

About her:

• She is an acclaimed economics scholar with teaching stint at the Harvard University, the London School of Economics and the University of California.
• Nobel-laureate George Akerlof (Economics in 2001) is her husband.