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Dean Zaheer Named Class C Director of Minneapolis Federal Reserve

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Dean Sri Zaheer has been appointed a Class C director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Board for a three-year term. She had been serving the board as a Class B director since January 1, 2017. As a Class C director, she is now eligible to be board chair.  

Zaheer succeeds director MayKao Y. Hang, president and CEO of the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation in St. Paul. Hang served two three-year terms as a Class C director and was board chair in 2016 and 2017. Hang’s term ended December 31, 2017.

Minneapolis Fed directors are selected to represent a cross section of the Ninth District economy, including consumers, industry, agriculture, the service sector, labor, and commercial banks of various sizes. Pursuant to the Federal Reserve Act, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis board has nine members, with three Class A directors representing the member banks and three each of Class B and C directors, selected to represent the public with “due but not exclusive consideration to the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labor, and consumers.” The Class A and B directors are elected by member banks, and the Class C directors are appointed by the Board of Governors, which also designates the board’s chair and deputy chair from among its three appointees.

The responsibilities of directors are broad, ranging from overseeing the general operations of the Minneapolis Fed to reporting on district economic conditions. This information helps prepare the Minneapolis Fed president for participation in Federal Open Market Committee meetings, where decisions are made about monetary policy.

Zaheer, the Elmer L. Andersen Chair in Global Corporate Social Responsibility, joined the Carlson School in 1991 as an assistant professor after earning her PhD at the Sloan School of Management at MIT. Her civic leadership includes serving as a director for numerous nonprofit organizations in the Ninth District, including the Greater Twin Cities United Way and the Destination Medical Center Economic Development Agency for the Mayo Clinic.