After spending more than 43 years in the Federal Reserve system, Patrick Barron, the current first vice president and chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, announced his retirement. Barron will retire Feb. 28 and will be succeeded by Marie Gooding, who currently serves as executive vice president and retail payments product manager at the Atlanta Fed. Barron began his Fed career in 1967 in Atlanta, where he worked in computer operations. He proceeded to become senior vice president of the Miami branch and then spent a stint as first vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Barron returned to the Atlanta Fed in 1996 to assume his current position. “We are very grateful to Pat for his many significant contributions to the Atlanta Fed and to the Federal Reserve System over his career,” said Dennis Lockhart, Atlanta Fed president and chief executive officer. Gooding joined the Atlanta Fed’s head office in 1987 as a data security coordinator. She was gradually promoted throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, until she reached senior vice president and corporate engagement officer in 2008. “During her career at the Atlanta Fed, Marie has displayed strong personal commitment to the mission of the Federal Reserve and made significant contributions within the Atlanta Fed and throughout the Fed System,” said Carol Tomé, chairman of the Atlanta Fed’s board of directors. “She brings to her new position a wide range of experience, having led functions as diverse as payments processing — both at the strategy-setting level and the operational level—computer systems, human resources and a number of other key functions.” Gooding will be replaced by Cheryl Venable, who currently serves as senior vice president and chief information officer for the Retail Payments Office at the Atlanta Fed. Venable has held positions at multiple Federal Reserve Banks over the last 19 years, including the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta serves the Sixth Federal Reserve District, which encompasses Alabama, Florida and Georgia and parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. Write to Christine Ricciardi.