Credited as the engineer of former President Bill Clinton’s economic vision for America and the savior of the world’s financial stability on two occasions, Robert E. Rubin ’60 returns to Harvard today to address the 350th Commencement.

Rubin, now chair of Citigroup, is the former Secretary of the Treasury and a mentor to Harvard president-elect Lawrence H. Summers.

“In a world in which you are constantly taught that success comes through sharp elbows, power plays and manipulation, Bob is living proof that you are more likely to be successful through a contained ego and building openness and trust among people,” says Gene Sperling, former chief economic advisor to Clinton and former director of the National Economic Council.

Rubin, the third economist in three years to speak at Harvard’s Commencement ceremonies, has been called the “steward of America’s economy” by former White House Chief of Staff John D. Podesta. Rubin follows Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and the Nobel prize-winning scholar of the developing world’s economics, professor emeritus Amartya K. Sen.

Rubin is seen as a preeminent figure in domestic and international economics with an unparalleled understanding of global markets, says economics Professor Kenneth S. Rogoff.

“He has a level of respect in the international community over a broad range of issues,” Rogoff said. “It’s something we haven’t seen since Alexander Hamilton or James Baker.”

An Inflating Education

Rubin may have saved Mexico from defaulting on its loans and prevented the Asian economic crisis from catapulting the world into economic disarray, but his path to the Commencement podium began much more humbly.