Lawrence K. Roos
- President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 1976–1983
- Born: February 1, 1918
- Died: September 23, 2005
Lawrence K. Roos became the eighth president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on March 22, 1976. He retired January 31, 1983.
Roos was born in St. Louis in 1918. He graduated from Yale University in 1940 and served in the U.S. Army from 1941 to 1945. His political career started in 1946, when he was elected to a seat in the Missouri House of Representatives, where he served for four years.1
In the 1950s and early 1960s, Roos worked as a commercial banker and bank executive. He then served three terms as St. Louis County supervisor from 1963 to 1975. Before joining the St. Louis Fed, he also worked at the First National Bank of St. Louis, where he was an executive.
Roos assumed the role of president of the St. Louis Fed in 1976.2 He was vocal about the policies needed to curb inflation and grow the economy.3 Roos stated that he saw the most meaningful part of his presidency at the St. Louis Fed as the ability "to contribute to the continuation of the tradition of monetary control that has characterized this Bank for so many years."4
After retiring from the Bank in 1983, Roos took a position at the investment banking firm Bear, Stearns and Company as a special limited partner, where he was an economic adviser on monetary policy.5
Roos died in 2005.
Endnotes
- 1 Lawrence K. Roos Papers. Missouri Historical Society Archives, St. Louis.
- 2 "People and Business: St. Louis Reserve Bank Appoints New President." New York Times, March 6, 1976.
- 3 Lawrence K. Roos. "Monetary Policy for the 1980s." Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, 1980, 61(4): 307-315; David R. Francis. "Fed's Roos warns: beware the 'easy' solution." Christian Science Monitor, February 27, 1980; "Fed Must Change its Ways on Monetary Policy: Roos." American Banker, April 2, 1981.
- 4 "An Interview with Lawrence K. Roos." Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Eighth Note, January-February 1983: 1.
- 5 Daniel F. Cuff. "Business People; Roos of St. Louis Fed to Join Bear, Stearns." New York Times, January 20, 1983.
Written by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis as of November 2013 and updated by Ella Needler and Genevieve Podleski as of July 2022. See disclaimer and update policy.
