Contact: Thomas L. Lavelle, Assistant Vice President and Public Information Officer

Boston -- The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston announced today the election of new Directors. It also named a new member of the Federal Advisory Council.

Samuel O. Thier, M.D., President and CEO, Partners HealthCare System, Inc., was recently elected to a Class C directorship. Dr. Thier is a nationally known authority on internal medicine and kidney disease. He is a Professor of Medicine and Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, a trustee, and former president of Brandeis University, a director of Merck , Co., and of The Commonwealth Fund.

Blenda J. Wilson, Ph.D., President and CEO, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, was elected to a Class B directorship. Dr. Wilson has served as President of the University of California at Northridge, Chancellor of the University of Michigan, and Executive Director of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. She is currently on the Board of Trustees of the J. Paul Getty Trust and The College Board.

Lawrence K. Fish, Chairman, President and CEO, Citizens Financial Corporation, was elected to a Class A directorship. Mr. Fish has been with Citizens since 1992. He is a Director of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Textron Inc. He is also on the Board of Trustees of The Brookings Institution. He serves as an Overseer of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and as a Director of the Dimock Community Health Center. His academic directorships include the Rhode Island School of Design.

The balance of the Board includes:

William O. Taylor, Chairman Emeritus, The Boston Globe, is the new Chairman of the Board of Directors. He is a director of the New York Times Company, the Globe's parent corporation. He also serves on the boards of several Greater Boston educational, cultural, and philanthropic institutions, including the Boston Public Library, the Freedom Trail Foundation and the Boston Adult Literacy Fund.

James J. Norton, Vice President, AFL-CIO, has been named Deputy Chairman of the Board. Mr. Norton has been a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council since 1991. He has served as President of the Graphics Communications International Union (GCIU), and was instrumental in the 1983 merger of the Graphic Arts International (GAIU) and International Printing , Graphic (IPGCU) unions.

Orit Gadiesh, Chairman of the Board, Bain , Company, Inc. Prior to joining Bain , Company, Ms. Gadiesh served in the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army. She has held faculty positions at the Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Institute of Management.

Sherwin Greenblatt, President, The Bose Corporation, is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and serves as a Trustee of Framingham State College, in Framingham, MA. He has served as Chairman of the Metrowest Chamber of Commerce and is a founding member of the Center for Quality Management.

David S. Outhouse, President and CEO, First and Ocean National Bank, Newburyport, MA, has been President and CEO at First and Ocean since 1992, and a banker for over 25 years. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America.

Richard C. White, Chairman, President and CEO, Community National Bank, Derby, VT, is currently serving as Vice Chair of the ABA Government Relations Council and as a member of the Vermont Bankers' Association's Government Relations Committee. He also serves on several local community boards. Mr. White is an attorney and a member of the Vermont Bar Association.

The Federal Reserve Act requires each Reserve Bank to have nine directors. Three Class A directors represent member banks in the district; three Class B directors and three Class C directors are selected with due consideration to the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labor, and consumers. Member banks elect Class A and Class B directors. The System's Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. appoints Class C directors, and from this group designates the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

Also, the Bank's new Federal Advisory Council member is David A. Spina, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, State Street Corporation, who was named the First District representative to the FAC. Mr. Spina assumed his present position at State Street at the start of 2001; he has been with State Street since 1969. Mr. Spina is Vice Chairman of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a Director of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, and he serves on the board of Jobs for Massachusetts.

The Federal Advisory Council, a body created by the Federal Reserve Act, consists of banking industry representatives from each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts. The group meets at least four times a year in Washington, D.C.