 constantin mugur isÄrescu (; born 1 august 1949) is the governor of the national bank of romania. from 22 december 1999 to 28 november 2000 he served as prime minister. he is a member of the romanian academy. born in drÄgÄÅani, vÃ¢lcea county, he graduated in 1971 from the academy of economic studies of bucharest. for the next 19 years, he worked for the institute of international economics. after the romanian revolution of 1989, he worked for the ministry of foreign affairs, then for the romanian embassy in the united states. in september 1990 he became governor of the national bank of romania, a position that he has retained since (except for the short period when he served as prime minister). on 16 december 1999 isÄrescu was sworn in as prime minister of romania, but only for about a year, since in november 2000, the ruling coalition lost the elections. in november 2000 isÄrescu ran for president of romania but was soundly defeated, coming in fourth place and receiving 9% of the vote. thereafter, he returned to the national bank of romania for another term as governor. although he served only one year as prime minister, isÄrescu is considered to have started the reform process, continued later by adrian nÄstase and cÄlin popescu-tÄriceanu. during his premiership, on february 15, 2000, romania formally initiated negotiations with the european union (a process started by the romanian application in 1995 and european commission approval on october 13, 1999http://ue.mae.ro/index.php?lang=en&id=351). as governor of the national bank of romania, mugur isÄrescu has coordinated romania's economic policy since 1990, being considered by some{{by whom| by whom|date=july
1949_births Bucharest_Academy_of_Economic_Studies_alumni Candidates_for_President_of_Romania Commanders_of_the_Order_of_Merit_of_the_Republic_of_Poland Governors_of_the_National_Bank_of_Romania Grand_Crosses_of_the_Order_of_Prince_Henry Living_people Officiers_of_the_LA(c)gion_d\'honneur People_from_DrAgAAani Prime_Ministers_of_Romania Romanian_economists Titular_members_of_the_Romanian_Academy