Dr. Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Fifth District Federal Reserve Bank, will speak on the topic “Does Federal Reserve Governance Need Reform?” at Marshall University’s Brad D. Smith Foundation Hall at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5.
Mayor Steve Williams will welcome Lacker to Huntington. The Marshall University BB&T Center for the Advancement of American Capitalism will sponsor a reception immediately after the speech.
Lacker has been president of the Fifth District Federal Reserve Bank since Aug. 1, 2004. The Fifth District, based in Richmond, Virginia, covers the states of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 49 counties constituting most of West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
Lacker is a Ph.D. economist, having earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1984. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Franklin & Marshall College in 1977, after which he joined Wharton Econometrics in Philadelphia. After earning his Ph.D., he was an assistant professor of economics at the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University from 1984 to 1989. He then joined the Federal Reserve Bank in 1989 as an economist in its research department, and later served in several positions including vice president and director of research before becoming president.
Lacker has written and spoken extensively on monetary, financial, and payment economics and has presented his work at many universities and central banks. He has also taught at The College of William and Mary and has been a visiting scholar at the Swiss National Bank.
The business community is invited and encouraged to attend this event, which is free and open to the public.