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Meet the Fed

Do you know Susan Schmidt Bies, who hits the links and once refereed kids' soccer games? What about Donald Kohn, who rides his bike to work on sunny days? Sound like the pursuits of ordinary people? Yes, but these folks aren't regular Joes.

By Associated PRess
Published February 1, 2007

Timothy Geithner

President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

He attended junior high in India and high school in Thailand and, in some ways, those globe-trotting years helped to prepare him for his present job. Geithner, 45, has lived in East Africa, China and Japan and has studied Japanese and Chinese. When he worked at the Treasury Department during the Clinton administration, Geithner dealt with international financial crises.

William Poole

President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Poole is a renaissance man. He is not only an economist and a respected academic, he is a sailor, a camper, a bicyclist and a carpenter/fixer of things. Poole, 69, likes to sail his 17-foot-long Thistle. He and his wife, Geraldine, have chartered sailboats and cruised the Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere. Another hobby: "nonroughing it camping," as Poole calls it.

Kevin Warsh

Federal Reserve governor

Warsh played varsity tennis in high school, a passion that led him to Stanford University. At Stanford, Warsh met his future wife, Jane Lauder, the granddaughter of cosmetic pioneer Estee Lauder. Warsh, 36, is the youngest governor in Fed history. Warsh worked for Morgan Stanley & Co. in mergers and acquisitions and eventually became a vice president at the company.

Susan Schmidt Bies

Federal Reserve governor

Bies, 59, earned a master's and a doctorate, both in economics, from Northwestern University. With her expertise in banking and risk management, Bies has played a key role in shaping regulatory policy at the Fed. When her two sons - now adults - played youth soccer in Tennessee, Bies was a licensed referee. She also played soccer in an adult league. These days, Bies is more likely to be found golfing or gardening.

Michael Moskow

President, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Moskow enjoys a good game of golf or tennis. A former teacher, business executive and U.S. government official, Moskow views economic and monetary policy through many lenses. After 13 years at the bank helm, Moskow, 69, will retire Aug. 31. "I look forward to staying active and engaged in a number of different civic and professional pursuits," he says.

Ben Bernanke

Chairman, Federal Reserve board Bernanke traces his interest in economics to some less-than-wonky summer jobs after high school and in college. After graduating from high school, Bernanke helped build St. Eugene hospital in his hometown of Dillon, S.C. During the summers of his college years, he waited tables six days a week at South of the Border. "I remember the fellow construction worker who wanted to become foreman someday and a waitress who was saving to go to college," he says. "I was impressed by these experiences, and I think they were an important reason I went into economics." Now approaching his first anniversary as Fed chairman, Bernanke, 53, is trying to create a more democratic central bank by gently shifting the spotlight of monetary policymaking to the institution rather than its chairman. Fittingly, Bernanke is not one to seal himself in his stately Fed office. Sometimes, he'll eat lunch in the Fed's cafeteria, mingling with staff. He can be spotted on occasion playing basketball with staff or shooting hoops with whomever is around on the half-court in the Fed's basement. During baseball season, he follows the Washington Nationals.

Randall Kroszner

Federal Reserve governor

Kroszner's first job was as a bank teller. The 44-year old former economics professor taught money and banking at the University of Chicago. He showed an early interest in money and banking: When he was young, he collected coins. These days, Kroszner takes pleasure in classical music. He has a special fondness for art, contemporary photography and architecture.

Donald Kohn

Federal Reserve governor

When the weather is nice, Kohn enjoys riding his bicycle to work, pedaling across a bridge over the Potomac River and making his way to downtown Washington, D.C., and the Federal Reserve's headquarters. Kohn, 64, likes sailing and is proud to point out that he has three grandchildren. As the Fed's vice chairman, Kohn is the second-highest-ranking person on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors.

Frederic Mishkin

Federal Reserve governor

Mishkin, 56, likes cutting through the water on his small sailboat, which is moored on the Hudson River. He works up a sweat cross-country skiing, bicycling and inline skating. An author of more than 15 books, Mishkin's academic research has focused on how monetary policy affects financial markets and the economy at large. He has taught at several universities.

Cathy Minehan

President, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Minehan likes taking journeys into the past when reading books about significant historical figures or periods of time. She jogs and golfs. She is a fan of family get-togethers. Minehan, 59, began her Fed career in 1968 at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where she was a bank examiner and an analyst. She plans to retire this year, but a date has not been set.

Thomas Hoenig

President, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Hoenig is book lover who especially enjoys digging into histories and biographies. Hoenig, 60, started out at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in 1973 as an economist in the banking supervision area. As head of the regional bank, Hoenig hosts an annual Fed conference that draws a who's who participant list of economic and financial luminaries.

[Last modified February 1, 2007, 00:10:59]