The economics department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology provides much of the brainpower used to combat the global financial crisis. Seven former or current central bank chiefs—of the U.S., Britain, the Euro Area, India, Israel, Chile, and Cyprus—either studied or taught there. The department is famous for its stress on practical solutions to economic problems.

Photographs by Corbis (2); Getty Images (2); Landov; MIT Museum (3); Polaris; Stevens Studios of Bangor, Maine for MIT Technique; ZUMA Press