Robert H. Boykin

Robert H. Boykin served as the tenth president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from January 1, 1981, to January 31, 1991.

Born in Carlsbad, New Mexico, in 1926, Robert Boykin spent his early years in West Texas, attending high school in Big Spring, Texas. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. Boykin also was a graduate of the School of Banking of the South at Louisiana State University and attended management courses at Texas A&M University and the American Management Association.

From 1943 to 1947, Boykin served in the US Navy and was released to inactive duty with the rank of lieutenant.

Employed by the Dallas Fed in 1953 in the Legal Department, Boykin was elected to the official position of assistant council in 1959. In his nearly forty years with the Dallas Fed, he served in various official capacities, including assistant secretary of the board of directors, secretary to the board, assistant vice president, vice president, senior vice president, and first vice president from December 1976 until 1981. He was appointed president in January 1981. He held that position for ten years, when he retired at the mandatory age of sixty-five.

As president, Boykin led the Dallas Fed and the Texas banking industry through the banking crisis in the late 1980s, which also included a plunge in oil prices and the deterioration in property values.

During the banking crisis, Boykin said the Federal Reserve System played an important part in helping Southwestern businesses and individuals survive by providing a risk-free way to clear payments and by providing liquidity to failing banks during the process of resolution by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Many participants in the events of that time have commented on the strong leadership Boykin provided, his practical solutions and his direct approach.

From 1963 to 1964, Boykin served as secretary of the Conference of Presidents of the Federal Reserve System. He also served as a member of the Presidents Conference Committee on Supervision and Regulation, chairman of the Conference of First Vice Presidents in 1980, and chairman of the Conference of Presidents in 1985.

Boykin also served as a member of the Advisory Council for the School of Management and Administration at the University of Texas at Dallas and as advisory member of the Dallas Citizens Council. He was a member of the Texas Bar Association, chairman of the Corporate Counsel Section of the Dallas Bar Association, and a member of the Dallas chapter of the American Institute of Banking and Lions Club of Dallas. He also was a member of the official board of the Highland Park United Methodist Church.

Boykin passed away in 2012.

Written by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. See disclaimer.