Federal Reserve Board of Governors member to give talk Monday

Philip Jefferson, a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, will deliver the H. Parker Willis Lecture in Political Economy on Monday, March 27 at 5 p.m. in Washington and Lee University’s Stackhouse Theater. The event is free and open to the public.

Jefferson took office as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors on May 23, 2022, filling an unexpired term ending January 31, 2036. As the central bank of the United States, the Federal Reserve System promotes the effective operation of the U.S. economy and the public interest, and the seven members of its Board of Governors are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. In his role as a Board Member, Jefferson serves on the Committee on Board Affairs, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, the Committee on Supervision and Regulation, and the Subcommittee on Smaller Regional and Community Banking.

Jefferson’s research interests include macroeconomics, poverty and applied econometrics, and he has published two books, “Poverty: A Very Short Introduction” (2018) and “The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Poverty” (2012). Since his appointment to the Board of Governors, Jefferson has delivered several public speeches, addressing a wide range of topics including the impact of technology on the post-pandemic economy, inclusive economic growth and contextualizing inflation.

Prior to joining the Board of Governors, Jefferson served as Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of Faculty, and the Paul B. Freeland Professor of Economics at Davidson College. He has also served as the chair of the Department of Economics at Swarthmore College, where he was the Centennial Professor of Economics, and as an economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Jefferson received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Vassar College, and his master’s degree and doctorate in economics from the University of Virginia.

The H. Parker Willis Lecture series, started by the late John M. Gunn ’45, emeritus professor of economics at W&L, honors the first dean of W&L’s School of Commerce, H. Parker Willis (1874-1937). Willis served as an economic advisor to Congressman Carter Glass of the Sixth District of Virginia. He was also a consultant to the House Banking and Currency Committee in 1912 and 1913, during which time the creation of the Federal Reserve System was being considered.

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