John C. Williams is the president and chief executive officer of the New York Fed. In this role, he leads one of the 12 Reserve Banks that, along with the Board of Governors, make up our nation’s central bank, the Federal Reserve System. He serves as the vice chair and a permanent voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Fed’s monetary policymaking body.
As head of the New York Fed, Mr. Williams leads a public service organization of approximately 3,000 employees who work together to carry out its mission: to make the U.S. economy stronger and the financial system more stable for all segments of society. He is focused on the development of the next generation of Federal Reserve leaders and is deeply committed to building diverse and inclusive workforces, which foster belonging and enable employees to be authentic and do their best work. In addition to setting the strategic vision for the organization and overseeing its unique responsibilities, Mr. Williams is responsible for actively engaging in and learning from the Federal Reserve’s Second District—a dynamic region that includes New York State, northern New Jersey, southwestern Connecticut, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Mr. Williams holds a number of other leadership positions that help support his domestic and international engagement with global central bankers and other stakeholders, including roles at the Bank for International Settlements and the Economic Club of New York.
Throughout his career, Mr. Williams has been a strong advocate for policies to stimulate the economy, whether in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis or amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He has produced seminal research on critical monetary policy issues, such as the Zero Lower Bound and the neutral rate of interest. As president and CEO of the New York Fed, he continues his active research agenda on topics including monetary policy under uncertainty and imperfect conditions, as well as macroeconomics more broadly.
Mr. Williams has dedicated his career to public service. In June 2018, he became the 11th president and CEO of the New York Fed. From 2011 to mid-2018, Mr. Williams was the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Prior to that, he was the executive vice president and director of research for the San Francisco Fed, which he joined in 2002.
Mr. Williams began his career in 1994 as an economist at the Board of Governors. Additionally, he served as a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers and as a lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
He has a PhD in economics from Stanford University, a master’s degree from the London School of Economics, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley.
Mr. Williams is originally from California and lives in New York with his wife, Audrey. He has two sons, both of whom support his passion for pizza, complex video games, and fashionable sneakers.
