(Reuters) – St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard, the U.S. central bank’s longest-serving current policymaker and a leading hawkish voice supporting interest-rate hikes, will be leaving his bank next month to join Purdue University.
Bullard, who has led the St. Louis Fed since 2008, will stay on at the bank in an advisory role until Aug. 14 before taking up a post as the inaugural dean of the Mitchell E Daniels, Jr School of Business at Purdue University on Aug. 15.
He will not take part in the Fed’s policy deliberations or its rate-setting decision in July, the statement said.
Bullard’s exit means the central bank will soon lose one of its most consistent voices pressing for aggressive action to help lower high levels of inflation. Bullard was in the vanguard of central bankers calling for action in the run-up to the launch of the Fed’s aggressive rate rise campaign which kicked off in March 2022.
Bullard has been at the Fed for the bulk of his career and was his bank’s research director before taking over the leadership slot. Bullard said in a statement that “the Bank is well-positioned for ongoing success and impact.”
The St. Louis Fed said its first vice president and chief operating officer Kathleen O’Neill Paese will act as interim president. The St. Louis Fed board of directors will form a search committee to replace Bullard.
With Bullard’s exit, there will be two unfilled regional Fed bank slots, as the Kansas City Fed is also searching for someone to replace Esther George, who retired earlier this year.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir)
