Loretta J. Mester (born October 24, 1958) was president and CEO of the

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is the Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland-based headquarters of the U.S. Federal Reserve System's Fourth Federal Reserve Districts, District. The district is composed of Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky ...

Personal life

Mester was born in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, Maryland on October 24, 1958. She is married to George Mailath, an economist at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Education

Mester has a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in Mathematics and Economics and a Masters and Ph.D. in economics from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. She was also a National Science Foundation Fellow at Princeton.

Career

Mester worked at the

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia — also known as the Philadelphia Fed or the Philly Fed — headquartered at 10 Independence Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is responsible for the Third District of the Federal Reserve, which cover ...

, where she was executive vice president, director of research and chief policy advisor. She began work with the Federal Reserve Bank (in Philadelphia) in 1985 as an economist, thereafter being promoted to senior vice president, director of research, executive vice president. Mester has taught in both the MBA and BA business courses at Wharton and the Ph.D. finance course at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. Mester became the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland on June 1, 2014. She was the 11th president and CEO of Cleveland's Fourth District Federal Reserve Bank. Mester is an adjunct professor of finance at the

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

and a fellow at the Wharton Financial Institutions Center. Other positions Mester holds include: director of both the Greater Cleveland Partnership and of the Council for Economic Education, trustee of both the

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Academic health science center, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an O ...

and the Musical Arts Association (the Cleveland Orchestra), founding director of the Financial Intermediation Research Society, member of the advisory board of the Financial Intermediation Network of European Studies (FINEST). Her professional memberships include the American Economic Association, the

American Finance Association The American Finance Association (AFA) is an academic organization whose focus is the study and promotion of knowledge of financial economics. It was formed in 1939. Its main publication, the ''Journal of Finance'', was first published in 1946. ...

, the Econometric Society, and the Financial Management Association International.

Publications

Mester has published articles in various journals on the subjects of central banking, economics and finance. She is co-editor of the '' Journal of Financial Services Research'' and the ''

International Journal of Central Banking The International Journal of Central Banking (IJCB) is an open-access economic academic journal, research journal that began publication in 2005 after the decision of several Central Banks to create a professional journal for policymakers and rese ...

''. She is an associate editor of: the ''

Journal of Financial Intermediation A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

''; '' Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking''; '' Journal of Economics and Business''; ''Research in Banking and Finance''; and '' Journal of Financial Stability''.

Philanthropy

Mester is a director of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, a director of the Council for Economic Education, a trustee of the Cleveland Clinic, a trustee of the Musical Arts Association (Cleveland Orchestra), a founding director of the Financial Intermediation Research Society, and a member of the advisory board of the Financial Intermediation Network of European Studies (FINEST).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mester, Loretta J. 1958 births 21st-century American economists 21st-century American women American bankers American women bankers American women economists Barnard College alumni Businesspeople from Baltimore Economists from Maryland Economists from Ohio Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland presidents Living people Princeton University alumni