Raphael W. Bostic (born June 5, 1966) is an American economist, academic, and public servant who has served as the 15th president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta since 2017.Bio
, Federal Reserve Board. During his academic career, Bostic served as chair of the Department of Governance, Management, and the Policy Process at the Price School of Public Policy at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Early life

Bostic was born to Rafael Theodore Bostic of St. Croix and Viola Williams of America in New York City and grew up in Delran Township, New Jersey, where he was valedictorian of Delran High School. He earned a B.A. degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1987 with a combined major in economics and psychology. In 1995, he earned his Ph.D. in economics from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Career

Bostic served as a board member of

Freddie Mac The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is an American publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons, Virginia.Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Abode Communities. He is a fellow of th
National Academy of Public Administration
vice president of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, a member of the board of trustees of Enterprise Community Partners, and a research advisory board member of the Reinvestment Fund. Bostic was an economist for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 1995 to 2001, and the assistant secretary for policy development and research at United States Department of Housing and Urban Development from 2009 to 2012. He was the Chair of the Department on Governance, Management and the Policy Process at the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the

from 2012 to 2017. In 2020, Bostic wrote an essay for the FRB Atlanta entitled, "A Moral and Economic Imperative to End Racism." In it he wrote that systematic racism drags on the economy. On October 14, 2022, Bostic failed to disclose stock trading transactions in the five years leading the bank that were revealed after a federal investigation. Bostic stated a 3rd party manager had made the transactions, unknowingly to him. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has asked the Office of Inspector General for the Federal Reserve Board to initiate an independent review of President Bostic's financial disclosures. On September 11, 2024, the Office of the Inspector General reported that Bostic had "violated the FOMC blackout rule when securities transactions were executed on his behalf during multiple blackout periods."

Political future

Throughout his career, Bostic has been mentioned as a potential nominee for a variety of roles in the federal government. In November 2020, Bostic was named as a potential candidate for

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

in the then-upcoming Biden administration, a position that ultimately went to Janet Yellen. In August 2021, Bostic was mentioned as a contender for the position of Comptroller of the Currency. He has recently been mentioned as a possible replacement for Jerome Powell as

Chair of the Federal Reserve The chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the Federal Reserve, and is the active executive officer of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The chairman p ...

, before he was re-nominated for a second four-year term.

Personal life

Bostic is the first African-American and first openly gay person selected to lead a regional

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

bank.

References

External links