John B. Chambers is deputy head of the Sovereign Debt Ratings Group and chairman of the Sovereign Debt Committee at Standard and Poor's (S&P).
Along with David T. Beers, Chambers earned significant attention in August 2011 for his role in downgrading the credit rating

Credit rating

A credit rating evaluates the credit worthiness of an issuer of specific types of debt, specifically, debt issued by a business enterprise such as a corporation or a government. It is an evaluation made by a credit rating agency of the debt issuers likelihood of default. Credit ratings are...

 of United States Treasury bonds to AA+

Bond credit rating

In investment, the bond credit rating assesses the credit worthiness of a corporation's or government debt issues. It is analogous to credit ratings for individuals.-Table:...

. Prior to this, the United States had maintained a AAA credit rating since 1941.

Chambers holds a BA in English literature and philosophy from Grinnell College

Grinnell College

Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, U.S. known for its strong tradition of social activism. It was founded in 1846, when a group of pioneer New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College....

 (1977) and an MA in English literature from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. After working five years in various roles as sous directeur, assistant comptroller, and vice president for Banque Indosuez, Chambers joined S&P in 1993. He became deputy head of S&P's Sovereign Debt Ratings Group in 1997