Austan D. Goolsbee has been named president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Mr. Goolsbee, an economics professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during the Obama administration, will assume the post on Jan. 9, according to an announcement Thursday.
He will succeed Charles L. Evans, who is retiring in January after 15 years as the Chicago Fed's president and CEO. Mr. Goolsbee will fulfill the remainder of Mr. Evans' current five-year term, which expires in February 2026, at which time he will be considered for reappointment.
"The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has always been one of the crown jewels of the Fed system and the district it represents is the backbone of the American economy," Mr. Goolsbee said in a news release. "I am both humbled and excited to serve the public in this role. These have been challenging, unprecedented times for the economy. The bank has an important role to play in helping the district get through them and to thrive going forward."
Moreover, Mr. Goolsbee will become a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee upon taking office in 2023.
The committee has rapidly raised interest rates this year in an effort to tamp down inflation. Fed Chairman Jerome H. Powell signaled in a speech Wednesday that the committee could slow the pace of rate increases as soon as its Dec. 13-14 meeting, but will "stay the course until the job is done."
