By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM
New York Times
MARCH 2, 2015
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Monday that it had named as its new president Patrick Harker, president of the University of Delaware.
Mr. Harker, 56, was trained as an engineer and has spent most of his career as an academic and a university administrator, an unusual background for a Fed official. He also has served on the board of the Philadelphia Fed for the last three years.
He will become president July 1, the Philadelphia Fed said in a statement. “His deep roots in the region, his distinguished career in academia, his drive for innovation, and his passion to make our region an economic engine for the future truly impressed our board,” said James E. Nevels, chairman of the Philadelphia Fed’s board and founder of the Swarthmore Group, an investment advisory firm.
As one of the 12 presidents of the Fed’s regional reserve banks, Mr. Harker will participate in the regular meetings of the Fed’s monetary policy committee. He also will serve as chief executive of an institution with hundreds of employees, including economic researchers and bank regulators. The reserve banks also help to operate the plumbing of the financial system, including the distribution of currency.
In recent decades, the reserve banks have mostly named presidents who hold doctorates in economics and often have worked inside the Fed system. That has led to concern in some quarters of a lack of diversity.
Mr. Harker, by contrast, holds a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and a doctorate in engineering, all from the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds a master’s in economics from the same institution. He joined Penn’s faculty in 1991 and became dean of its Wharton School in 2000. He moved to the University of Delaware in 2007.
“I am honored and excited,” Mr. Harker said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the bank’s dedicated staff to continue the Philadelphia Fed’s vital service to the district and the nation.”
