He was the son of an immigrant merchant who died when Milton was fifteen. A graduate of Rutgers U in 1932, Friedman obtained his PhD from Columbia U in 1946, by which time he was Professor of Economics at U Chicago. From 1937 to 1981 he was associated with the National Bureau of Economics Research. During this time he wrote many books on aspects of economics. In 1988 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Science.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/business/17friedmancnd.html?pagewanted=all Obituary with photographs.