Joseph Alois Schumpeter (German:[ˈʃʊmpeːtɐ]; 8 February 1883 – 8 January 1950) was an Austrian-born American economist and political scientist. He briefly served as Finance Minister of Austria in 1919. In 1932 he became a professor at Harvard University where he remained until the end of his career. One of the most influential economists of the 20th century, Schumpeter popularized the term "creative destruction" in economics.