Who is Ben Bernanke?

I mean, besides the man that Dear Leader is nominating to replace Alan Greenspan. I don't have the economic chops to know what to make of Bernanke right off the bat, but the NRO doesn't like him, which I find hopeful. Some other links to get up to speed:

- Some articles Bernanke published while at Princeton

- A June 2004 interview with Bernanke by the Minneapolis Fed Research Director.

- A well-known 2002 speech on deflation that Bernanke gave to the National Economists Club

If any of you Snackers out there (Dark Wraith?) have a background in this stuff, I'd love to get some better-informed input on this guy.