January 06, 2015

Federal Reserve Board appoints Thomas Laubach as director of the Division of Monetary Affairs

For immediate release

The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday announced the appointment of Thomas Laubach as director of the Division of Monetary Affairs, effective January 11, 2015.

Mr. Laubach has served as associate director in the Division of Research and Statistics since 2012 and succeeds William B. English, who has been appointed senior special adviser to the Board, also effective January 11.

As senior special adviser to the Board, Mr. English will continue to contribute to the monetary policy process and help support work related to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and, in particular, the work of the subcommittee on communications. Mr. English has served more than 22 years at the Federal Reserve Board, including four years as head of the Division of Monetary Affairs.

As division director, Mr. Laubach will advise the Board and the FOMC on the conduct of monetary policy, including open market operations and the discount window.  In recent years, he has played a central role in supporting the FOMC's monetary policy process.  As associate director in the Division of Research and Statistics, Mr. Laubach has made extensive contributions to the Board's approach to forecasting and analyzing the U.S. economy. 

"Thomas Laubach is a highly regarded economist with deep expertise in macroeconomic modeling, monetary policy design, and policy communications," said Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet L. Yellen.  "He has contributed to a wide range of high-level policy memoranda, provided analytic support to the FOMC's subcommittee on communications, and served as a trusted adviser to me and other members of the FOMC."

Mr. Laubach began his career at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (1997-2000) and then joined the staff of the Federal Reserve Board for eight years (2000-2008). He left the Board to spend three years as a professor at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.  He rejoined the Board staff in 2012 as a senior adviser and was subsequently appointed associate director. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Bonn in 1993 and his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in 1997.

Mr. English began his career at the Board in 1992 as an economist and was appointed to the Board's official staff in 2001. During his career, he also has served as a visiting senior economist at the Bank for International Settlements and as a visiting senior economist at the President's Council of Economic Advisers. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and the University Of Chicago Graduate School Of Business. He holds a B.A. in economics and mathematics from Yale University and a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"Bill has had a long and distinguished career in service to the Federal Reserve during one of the most difficult times in our nation's financial and economic history.  I am especially grateful to have had the benefit of his advice and counsel as division director and I look forward to continuing to work together in this new role." Chair Yellen said.

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Last Update: January 06, 2015