Loretta Mester
- President, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, 2014–2024
Loretta J. Mester served as president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland from June 2014 to June 2024. In that role, she participated in the formulation of U.S. monetary policy and oversees 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 U.S. Treasury. Mester represents 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. She has also taught in the undergraduate finance and M.B.A. programs at Wharton and in the Ph.D. program in finance at New York University.
Mester is a director of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, 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 senior council of the Central Bank Research Association (CEBRA), and a member of the advisory board of the Financial Intermediation Network of European Studies (FINEST). She is a member of the American Economic Association, the American Finance Association, the Econometric Society, and the Financial Management Association International.
Mester graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics and economics from Barnard College of Columbia University. She earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Princeton University, where she was a National Science Foundation Fellow.
Her tenure concluded on June 30, 2024, consistent with Federal Reserve mandatory age and length-of-service policies.
Written by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and updated July 1, 2024. See disclaimer and update policy.
