2300 Steinberg-Dietrich Hall
3620 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Links: CV
PhD in economics, 1985, Princeton University
MA in economics, 1983, Princeton University
BA in mathematics and economics, 1980, Barnard College of Columbia University (summa cum laude)
Loretta J. Mester was president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland from June 1, 2014 through June 30, 2024. In that role, she participated in the formulation of US monetary policy and oversaw more than 1,000 employees based at the Bank’s Cleveland office and Branch offices in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh who conduct economic research, supervise banking institutions, promote community development, and provide payment services to depository institutions and the US Treasury. Mester was the 11th president of the Cleveland Fed and represented the Fourth District on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).
Mester began her career at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia in 1985 as an economist and was executive vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia prior to her appointment as president and CEO of the Cleveland Fed on June 1, 2014.
Mester is an adjunct professor of finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Senior Fellow with the Wharton Initiative on Financial Policy and Regulation. She has also taught in the undergraduate finance and MBA programs at Wharton and in the PhD program in finance at New York University.
Mester is a member of the board of directors of Renaissance Re and of the Haverford Trust Company, a member of the advisory council of the Visa Economic Empowerment Institute, and a contributor to CNBC, the business and financial news network.
In addition, she is a trustee of the Cleveland Clinic, a trustee of the Musical Arts Association (Cleveland Orchestra), a director of the Council for Economic Education, a founding director of the Financial Intermediation Research Society, a member of the CNBC Global Financial Wellness Advisory Board, a member of the Global Interdependence Center’s College of Central Bankers, a fellow of the National Association of Business Economics, a member of the senior council of the Central Bank Research Association (CEBRA), a member of the advisory board of the Financial Intermediation Network of European Studies (FINEST), and an editor of the Journal of Financial Services Research. She is a member of the American Economic Association, the American Finance Association, the Econometric Society, and the Financial Management Association International.
Mester was born in Baltimore. She graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics and economics from Barnard College of Columbia University. She earned MA and PhD degrees in economics from Princeton University, where she was a National Science Foundation Fellow.
Adjunct Professor of Finance, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 7/2001-present
(On leave at Wharton, 9/1992-12/1992)
Taught an undergraduate/MBA course in Bank Management
Senior Fellow, Wharton Initiative on Financial Policy and Regulation, 11/2014-present
Member, Advisory Committee of the Financial Engineering and Banking Society, 4/2010-present
Member, Advisory Board of the Financial Intermediation Network of European Studies (FINEST), 2012-present
Member, Senior Council of the Central Bank Research Association (CEBRA), 2/2022-present
Member, Advisory Council of the Visa Economic Empowerment Institute, December 2024-present
Director, Renaissance Re, November 2024-present (member of the investment and risk management committee, 2024-present)
Director, The Haverford Trust Company, August 2024-present (member of the investment and risk management committee)
Director, Council for Economic Education, May 2017-present (member of the governance and nominating committee, 2021-present, and chair of the governance and nominating committee, 2022-present)
Trustee, Cleveland Clinic, January 2015-present (member of the compensation committee, 2018-present; member of the government and community relations committee, 2017-2020)
Trustee, Musical Arts Association (The Cleveland Orchestra), January 2016-present (member of the personnel committee, 2020-present and vice chair of the personnel committee, 2020-present; member of the education committee, 2018-present)
Contributor to CNBC, the business and financial news network, September 2024-present
Former President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, 6/1/2014-6/30/2024
Co-Editor, Journal of Financial Services Research, 6/2013-present
Associate Editor, Journal of Financial Intermediation, 5/1995-present
Associate Editor, Journal of Financial Stability, 10/2003-present
Editorial Board Member, International Journal of Banking, Accounting, and Finance, 2/2008-present
Management Committee Member, International Journal of Central Banking, 2011-2014, 2016-2019
Managing Editor, International Journal of Central Banking, 6/2016-12/2019
Associate Editor, Journal of Economics and Business, 8/1998-7/20
Links to Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland publications are available at https://www.clevelandfed.org/people/profiles/m/mester-loretta-j
Links to Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia publications are available at
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/author/mester-loretta-jean#9033
Global Interdependence Center College of Central Bankers Fellow, inducted in September 2024
NABE Fellow, elected by the Board of Directors of the National Association of Business Economics (NABE) in October 2023
Ohio 500: Most Influential Executives Across the State of Ohio 2023 and 2024 (Ohio Business Magazine, Fall 2023, https://ohiobusinessmag.com/defining-leadership-and-power/ and Fall 2024, https://ohiobusinessmag.com/leadership-101/?mc_cid=94d17123c3&mc_eid=0696e39060#ohio-business-magazine-fall-2024/8/)
National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Three Rivers Chapter 2022 Winner of the Leadership in Private Company Governance Award (2022)
National Diversity Council, recipient of a CEO of the Year Award for Diversity and Inclusion, 2021.
Crain’s 2000 Power 150 (Crain’s Cleveland Business, January 2021)
Cleveland 500: Northeast Ohio’s Most Powerful and Influential People (Cleveland Magazine, July 2020, 2021, 2022)
Women in STEM Award (Taft, Stettinius, and Hollister Law, October 16, 2019)
Northeast Ohio Influential Women (Cleveland.Com (The Plain Dealer), May 13, 2019)
Crain’s Who’s Who in Northeast Ohio (Crain’s Cleveland Business, May 29-June 4, 2017)
Kentucky Colonel, commissioned in 2017
Crain’s 2016 Women of Note (Crain’s Cleveland Business, May 16-22, 2016)
The Power 100: Northeast Ohio’s Most Influential People (Cleveland Magazine Community Leader, February 2016; February 2019)
Runner-up for the JFI Most Significant Paper Prize in volumes 10 (2001) and 12 (2003) of the Journal of Financial Intermediation
Winner of the JFI Most Significant Paper Prize (the D.P. Jacobs Prize) in volume 2 (1992) of the Journal of Financial Intermediation, received 5/1993
Sloan Foundation Summer Fellowship, Summer 1984
Princeton University Fellowship, 9/1983-6/1984
National Science Foundation Fellowship, 9/1980-9/1983
Publications in Refereed Journals
Links to most speeches prior to July 2014 are available at
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/statements-speeches-loretta-j-mester-9033?browse=2010s
and at https://www.clevelandfed.org/people/profiles/m/mester-loretta-j
Links to videos of selected presentations prior to July 2014 are available at https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=loretta+mester
Links to selected media interviews prior to July 2014 are available at
https://www.clevelandfed.org/people/profiles/m/mester-loretta-j and at https://www.cnbc.com/
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