Loretta Mester was announced as the new president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, replacing Sandra Pianalto, who will retire at the end of May after being with the reserve since 2003.
Mester will step into her new role at the beginning of June and participate in the Federal Open Market Committee in the formulation of U.S. monetary policy, and will oversee 950 employees in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
She currently serves as the executive vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, where she serves as the bank’s chief policy advisor and attends the meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee.
In addition, she joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia in 1985 as an economist and has advanced to positions of increasing responsibility during her 28 years with the Federal Reserve.
"Loretta is a distinguished and widely respected economist and leader whose vast experience and deep knowledge of the Federal Reserve System and the challenges facing the FOMC make her the ideal candidate to head the Cleveland Fed," said Christopher Connor, deputy chairman of the bank’s board of directors and chairman and CEO of The Sherwin-Williams Company, who led the search committee.
“We were fortunate to have many outstanding candidates who were part of our search process and, in the end, Loretta stood out from the rest due to her deep expertise and broad understanding of economics, finance, financial intermediation, and banking issues,” Connor added.
