Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser Receives 2013 Outstanding Alumnus Award

President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Charles Plosser received Indian Springs School’s 2013 Outstanding Alumnus Award today at a special Town Hall meeting that honored his achievements and also recognized ISS trustees for their dedicated service to the school.

 

“My first year here, I learned my gift was not in languages,” Plosser joked with an audience of 300 students and members of the ISS Board, Alumni Council, and Faculty. “My second year, [then-Director] Doc Armstrong called me into his office, and he said, ‘You are not living up to your potential.’ I walked away with this important lesson: Never settle for anything but your best effort. It’s a hard lesson, but it’s wise. It enables you to be successful, and you will be happier for it.”

 

A member of the ISS Class of 1966, the Birmingham native is among 12 Reserve Bank presidents who sit on the Federal Open Market Committee, which determines the nation’s monetary policy. During the global financial crisis of 2008 and the recession that followed, he and colleagues took unprecedented actions in both monetary policy and lending operations to help mitigate the impact of the crisis.

 

Before joining the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Plosser served as Dean of the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration and John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Rochester. He holds Ph.D. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Chicago.

 

Plosser continues to make headlines around the world and speaks often to academic and business audiences about topics ranging from management education to economic and public policy issues. His visit to Springs was bookended by trips to Hong Kong and Stockholm. Before receiving the Outstanding Alumnus Award, he discussed the challenges of monetary policy with students in the Indian Springs Economics class.

 

“He has proven himself over and over to be an outstanding representative of this school—through his dogged pursuit of betterment and his adherence to the principle that we as individuals and a community can always improve through our commitment to giving back, not just by maximizing our own talents, but also by helping teach, mold, and guide the next generation,” said ISS alumnus D.G. Pantazis ’03, who presented the award to Plosser. “He in every way exemplifies what Learning through Living is about.”