[3] He attended high school in Washington Heights, where Henry Kissinger and Alan Greenspan preceded him by a year or two.
After the Federal Reserve, he spent 26 years with Salomon Brothers, where he was managing director, member of the executive committee, and in charge of the firm's four research departments.
[5][6] In the 1970s, Kaufman earned the sobriquet "Dr. Doom" when he was the chief economist at Salomon Brothers due to his frequent criticisms of government policies.
[4][7] In 1987, Kaufman was awarded the first George S. Eccles Prize for excellence in economic writing from the Columbia Business School for his book, Interest Rates, the Markets, and the New Financial World.
[8] Besides his business activities, Kaufman is active in a number of public organizations in the following capacities: member of the board of trustees (and chairman emeritus), Institute of International Education,[9] member of the board of trustees and member of the investment committee, Norton Museum of Art, member (and chairman emeritus), board of overseers, Stern School of Business, New York University, member of the board of governors, Tel-Aviv University, member of the international advisory committee, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Fellow, American Academy of Arts & Sciences, former treasurer, The Economic Club of New York, honorary trustee (and former president), The Animal Medical Center, life trustee, New York University, life trustee, The Jewish Museum.