Presidential Search

The Bank and the Search Committee welcome and encourage public input, nominations, and feedback during the search, as part of the commitment to fostering a transparent and accessible process. We’ll be as open and transparent about the search as we can, while of course affording the ability for applicants to apply confidentially.

• Input, comments, and questions: Those wishing to provide input to the Search Committee (for instance, on desired attributes in the Bank’s next president) are invited to write in using the following mailbox, BostonFedPresidentialSearch@bos.frb.org. Also, questions not addressed in the FAQs can be directed to that mailbox.
• Applications, nominations, or referrals: Separately, anyone who wishes to be considered for the position or formally nominate someone should communicate directly with Spencer Stuart via bostonfedpresident@spencerstuart.com

The president of a Federal Reserve Bank is its chief executive officer. The president is responsible for all Bank activities, including monetary policy, bank supervision and regulation, community outreach and development, and payments services and technologies. In addition, the president serves on the Federal Reserve System's monetary policymaking body, the Federal Open Market Committee.

In accordance with the Federal Reserve Act, Boston Fed’s First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Kenneth C. Montgomery assumed the duties of the president on an interim basis beginning October 1, 2021.

Ken represents the Boston Reserve Bank at the Federal Open Market Committee and ensures that all of the vital functions and responsibilities of the Boston Fed continue to be carried out until a new bank president is appointed.

The process for selecting a Federal Reserve Bank president is detailed in the Federal Reserve Act.

To conduct the search, the Reserve Bank's board of directors forms a search committee composed of Class B and C directors (those directors who are not bankers). That committee usually hires a search firm to help identify a broad, diverse, highly qualified candidate pool. The committee considers a nationwide pool of qualified candidates, inside and outside the Federal Reserve System. The president is then appointed by the Reserve Bank's Class B and C directors, subject to the approval of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, who generally interview the final candidate.

(For more details, see federalreserve.gov/faqs/how-is-a-federal-reserve-bank-president-selected.htm.)

The search committee is now focused on identifying a highly qualified pool of candidates. The search committee’s priority is to identify the most highly qualified candidates and follow the process through to appointing the next president and CEO, in consultation with the Board of Governors. Finding the right leader is the priority, not meeting a specific date.

The job description posted on this website covers the responsibilities and attributes the Search Committee is seeking for the next president of the Bank. In addition, the Board of Governors website describes the responsibilities of Reserve Bank presidents, and notes the characteristics of ideal candidates. These include:

• Guiding the Bank's economic research and gathering economic intelligence
• Providing insights to Federal Open Market Committee policy discussions
• Communicating clearly about monetary policy
• Being a strong chief executive officer of the Bank
• Ensuring the Bank maintains an effective system of bank supervision by faithfully carrying out its delegated authority from the Board of Governors
• Making strong personal contributions to matters requiring collective System action or direction.

The president of a Federal Reserve Bank is appointed for a five-year term. The terms of all the presidents of the 12 District Banks run concurrently and end on the last day of February of years numbered 1 and 6 (for example, 2021 and 2026). The appointment of a president who takes office after a term has begun ends upon the completion of that term. A president of a Reserve Bank may be reappointed after serving a full term or an incomplete term.

Reserve Bank presidents are subject to mandatory retirement at age 65. However, presidents initially appointed after age 55 can, at the option of the board of directors, be permitted to serve until attaining 10 years of service in the office or until age 75, whichever comes first.

The search process took about four months, although planning for the search had begun earlier, in anticipation of former president Rosengren's mandatory retirement date of June 2022.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston launched the search on Oct. 12, 2021. The Search Committee reached out to various stakeholder groups and constituencies to collect input, information, and ideas, and welcomed feedback via a dedicated email inbox and other means. The Committee published a report on December 1, 2021 detailing the input and its impact.

The Search Committee considered many highly qualified and diverse candidates from a nationwide pool. Ultimately, the Committee selected Dr. Susan Collins and her selection was approved by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

Working with executive search consultancy Spencer Stuart, the committee conducted a broad and inclusive search, requesting input from the public and stakeholders. The Committee published a report on December 1, 2021 detailing the input and its impact. Upon gathering a large, diverse, qualified pool of applicants, the Committee began a series of rounds of interviews to narrow the pool, eventually to finalists and then the candidate best suited for the role.

The announcement describes the characteristics that the Search Committee believes make Dr. Collins ideal for the role – and quotes Search Committee Chair Christina Paxson as noting that "Dr. Collins brings the technical expertise and insight to contribute to policymaking, and the leadership ability to head the organization. She is deeply committed to serving the public; engaging with constituents; and advancing economic stability, opportunity, and prosperity for the region and nation through the work of the central bank. Susan has also advanced diversity, equity, and inclusion through her work with the American Economic Association, the Ford School, and the University of Michigan."

Dr. Collins embraces the upcoming, expanded rules as well as all current restrictions. The Federal Reserve's Board of Governors is in the process of framing a broad set of new rules that will prohibit the purchase of individual securities, restrict active trading, and increase the timeliness of reporting and public disclosure by Fed policymakers and senior staff [see the Board's announcement at federalreserve.gov.]

Dr. Collins expects to begin in the role July 1, given her current responsibilities at the University of Michigan. She plans to participate in the late-July meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. Given the established rotation of Reserve Banks, in 2022 she will be a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, after officially starting as Boston Fed president. The Philadelphia Reserve Bank President and CEO Patrick Harker is expected to vote as an alternate member of the FOMC until that time. Ken Montgomery will remain the Bank's interim president until Collins begins, and will continue as first vice president and chief operating officer. Montgomery will also continue leading the Federal Reserve System's FedNowSM Service, which will support instant payments for businesses and individuals.

Collins will fulfill the remainder of the current five-year term that commenced on March 1, 2021, and ends on February 28, 2026 – a juncture at which she, like all Reserve Bank presidents, will be considered for reappointment via a rigorous and comprehensive process overseen by the Board of Governors.

Reserve Bank presidents are subject to mandatory retirement considerations. Presidents initially appointed after age 55 are eligible to serve up to 10 years in office.