Getting to Know Patrick Harker, the Next Philly Fed President

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia yesterday named Patrick Harker as its new president. One interesting aspect about this appointment is Harker’s background: Unlike most regional Federal Reserve Bank presidents, Harker does not hold a doctorate in economics, nor has he worked full-time inside the Fed system, The New York Times noted. Harker has served on the Philly Fed board for the last three years.

Harker’s bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate are all in engineering, and all from the University of Pennsylvania, where he also received a master’s in economics, and where he later became dean of Penn’s Wharton business school, the Times noted. In 2007, he became president of the University of Delaware, where he will step down to start his Fed job on July 1.

There’s some interesting reading out about Harker, including this editorial from The News Journal of Delaware, which discusses Harker’s record as UD president; the aforementioned New York Times story about his background, as well as this piece in The Philadelphia Inquirer; and this Bloomberg piece that discusses how he is expected to side more with Chairwoman Janet Yellen on monetary decisions than his successor, Charles Plosser – who was a former economics professor.