Carl Kaysen received his BA from the University of Pennsylvania in 1940. During World War II, he worked as an economist for the United States Office of Strategic Services, then in intelligence matters for the U.S. Army Air Force. After the war, Kaysen earnt an MA from Harvard in 1947, and then a PhD from Harvard in economics in 1954. Harvard named him a professor of economics in 1957. He joined the Kennedy administration where he served from 1961 to 1963 as deputy special assistant for national security affairs. Dr. Kaysen’s career as an economist took him to teaching posts at Harvard and MIT, along with the Institute for Advanced Study.