Keynote Speaker Biographies
Raghuram Rajan is the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. He was the governor of the Reserve Bank of India between 2013 and 2016, and also served as vice chairman of the board of the Bank for International Settlements between 2015 and 2016. Rajan was the chief economist and director of research at the International Monetary Fund from 2003 to 2006. He was the president of the American Finance Association in 2011 and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Group of Thirty. In 2003, the American Finance Association awarded Rajan the inaugural Fischer Black Prize for the best finance researcher under the age of 40. Other awards he has received include the Deutsche Bank Prize for Financial Economics in 2013, Euromoney magazine's Central Banker of the Year Award 2014, and the Banker magazine's Global Central Banker of the Year Award in 2016. Rajan's research interests are in banking, corporate finance, and economic development, especially the role finance plays in it.
Douglas A. Rediker is the executive chairman of International Capital Strategies, which he founded in 2012. He is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, having previously been a visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Rediker represented the United States on the executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2010 to 2012. He is a member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Future Council on Global Economics. He has moderated and participated in panels at WEF events in Davos, Switzerand, on capital markets, the international monetary system, emerging markets, and global governance issues. In 2007, Rediker returned to the United States after living and working for over 16 years in Europe, where he served as a senior investment banker and private equity investor for some of the world's leading financial institutions. As head of Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa Investment Banking, Rediker's experience includes working closely with governments, central banks, and the private sector as a group head, relationship manager, and team leader on privatizations, mergers and acquisitions, and debt and equity capital markets transactions.
Lawrence H. Summers is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus of Harvard University. During the past two decades, he has served in a series of senior policy positions in Washington, D.C., including as the 71st secretary of the Treasury for President Clinton and director of the National Economic Council for President Obama. Summers has also served as the undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs; deputy secretary of the Treasury; and Arthur Okun Distinguished Fellow in Economics, Globalization, and Governance at the Brookings Institution. In 2001, he took office as the 27th president of Harvard University. In 2002, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. In 2006, Summers served as one of five co-chairs to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He holds membership in the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Bretton Woods Committee, Group of Thirty, the Council on Competitiveness, and the UNCTAD Panel of Eminent Persons. Summers writes a regular column for the Financial Times, the Washington Post, and Reuters. Additionally, he is a frequent commentator on CNN, CNBC, BBC, NPR, and the Charlie Rose show.
Other Speaker Biographies
David Altig is executive vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He advises the Bank's president on monetary policy and related matters and serves on the management and discount committees. He leads the Atlanta Fed's macroblog, which provides commentary on economic topics. Before coming to the Atlanta Fed, Altig was vice president and associate director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, which he had joined in 1991 as an economist. Previously, Altig was a faculty member in the Department of Business Economics and Public Policy at Indiana University. He serves as an adjunct professor of economics in the graduate school of business at the University of Chicago and has also lectured at many other schools, including Ohio State University, Brown University, Duke University, and the University of Wisconsin, and in the Chinese Executive MBA program sponsored by the University of Minnesota and Lingnan College of Sun Yat-Sen University. Altig graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor's degree in business administration and earned his master's and doctoral degrees in economics from Brown University.
Alexander Bleck is an assistant professor of accounting at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia and was previously on the faculty of the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. His research highlights limits of using the market for information to improve the firm, set accounting standards, design bank regulation, conduct monetary policy, and allocate resources in financial markets. Bleck has presented his work at various policy institutions, including the Bank for International Settlements, the Bank of Canada, the International Monetary Fund, and the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Richmond. He holds a PhD in finance from the London School of Economics.
James Bullard is president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He also participates on the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). He has held numerous previous positions at the St. Louis Fed, among them vice president and research economist, deputy director of research for monetary analysis, macroeconomics section chief, FOMC briefing coordinator, policy adviser, and economist. Bullard received his doctorate in economics from Indiana University.
Julia Coronado is president and founder of MacroPolicy Perspectives LLC. She is also an executive in residence and blogger for Rutgers Business School. Coronado has more than a decade of experience as a financial market economist, including serving as chief economist for Graham Capital Management and BNP Paribas and as a senior economist at Barclays Capital. She also worked for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington D.C. for eight years. Coronado has published articles on issues related to pension finances, social security, and retirement saving adequacy and behavior. She currently serves on the board of directors of MTGE Corporation and the Pension Research Council at the Wharton School. She is a member of the Treasury Markets Practices Group and the Economic Advisory Panel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and a member of the Economic Studies Council at the Brookings Institution. Coronado earned a PhD in economics from the University of Texas.
Scott Evans is managing director of geopolitical risk for Discovery Capital Management. He joined Discovery in 2011 after almost five years at Millennium Management. At Millennium, Evans served as a portfolio manager and a senior member of the firm's risk management committee. Prior to Millennium, he worked in various sell side roles, including developing proprietary indexes for Schwab Capital Markets. Evans graduated from Wittenberg University.
Marie Gooding is first vice president and chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, a position she assumed in March 2011. She is also interim president and chief executive officer. She oversees the Bank's day-to-day operations, including all operating and support activities at the corporate headquarters in Atlanta and at the branch offices in Birmingham, Jacksonville, Miami, Nashville, and New Orleans. She also is vice chairman of the Bank's Management Committee and a member of the Discount Committee that reviews District discount window lending. Gooding is backup to the president in the execution of his monetary policy responsibilities. She is also the retail payments product director for the Federal Reserve System, where her responsibilities include managing and directing check collection and automated clearinghouse products and services provided by the Federal Reserve System. She is also a member of the Conference of First Vice Presidents. Prior to joining the Bank, Gooding taught secondary math in the Georgia public school system. She currently serves on the board of directors of Communities in Schools and is chair of the board of trustees of the Georgia Council on Economic Education. Gooding graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in secondary math education from Old Dominion University. She has also completed Duke University's Advanced Management Program and the Harvard Advanced Management Program.
Nikolay Gospodinov is a financial economist and adviser on the financial markets team in the research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Before joining the Atlanta Fed, Gospodinov was a professor, associate professor, and assistant professor in the economics department at Concordia University. He was also a visiting professor in the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University and in the economics department at the University of Montreal in 2011. Gospodinov is an associate editor for the Econometric Review and a referee for a number of other journals, including Econometrica, Review of Financial Studies, Econometric Theory, and the Journal of Applied Econometrics. He received his doctoral degree in economics from Boston College.
Alicia García Herrero is chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis. She is also a senior fellow at the European think tank Bruegel and a research fellow at Real Instituto El Cano. She is currently an adjunct professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Previously, Herrero was chief economist for emerging markets at Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, a member of the Asian research program at the Bank of International Settlements, head of the international economy division of the Bank of Spain, a member of the counsel to the executive board of the European Central Bank, head of emerging economies at the research department at Banco Santander, and an economist at the International Monetary Fund. Currently, she serves as adviser to the research arm of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and she is a board member of the Hong Kong Forum. Herrero earned a PhD in economics from George Washington University.
Richard J. Herring is the Jacob Safra Professor of International Banking and a professor of finance at the Wharton School. He has held numerous positions at the Wharton School, among them director of the Joseph H. Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies, co-director of the Wharton Financial Institutions Center, vice dean and director of the Wharton Undergraduate Division, director of the Financial Institutions Center, and director of the program in international banking and finance. He is also a member of the Financial Economists Roundtable. He received a master's degree and a PhD from Princeton University.
Robert Kahn is the Steven A. Tananbaum senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Prior to joining CFR, Kahn was a senior strategist with Moore Capital Management, where his portfolio spanned Group of Seven monetary and fiscal policy, regulatory reform, debt policy and debt workouts, and the crisis in Europe. Prior to that, he was a senior adviser in the financial policy department at the World Bank, where he focused on financial sector assessments for developing economies. He was also the World Bank's liaison to the secretariat of the Financial Stability Forum. He has also held staff positions at the International Monetary Fund, where he worked on public policy and the resolution of debt crises in emerging markets. Kahn has held various senior-level positions at Citigroup and was the managing director and head of the sovereign advisory group and the head of the Office of Industrial Nations at the U.S. Treasury. He was a senior economist at the Council of Economic Advisers and the Federal Reserve Board. Kahn received a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Michael Mendelson is portfolio manager of AQR Capital Management's risk parity strategies and a member of the firm's strategic planning and risk committees. Prior to joining AQR, Mendelson was a managing director at Goldman Sachs, where he founded the quantitative trading group. He has been a member of the Managed Funds Association's board of directors and chairman of its trading and markets committee and is currently chairman of its government affairs committee. From the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mendelson earned bachelor's degrees in mathematics, management, and chemical engineering and a master's degree in chemical engineering. He also earned an MBA from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Patricia C. Mosser is a senior research scholar and senior fellow at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and director of the Initiative on Central Banking and Financial Policy. Previously, Mosser was head of the research and analysis center at the Office of Financial Research at the U.S. Treasury Department. At the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, she was a senior manager at the Fed's open market desk overseeing market analysis, monetary policy implementation including many crisis-related facilities, foreign exchange operations, and analysis of financial stability and reform. She previously served as an economist and manager in the New York Fed's research department and as an assistant professor in the economics department at Columbia University. She serves as a consultant to the Bank of England and was previously a member of the deputies committee of the Financial Stability Oversight Council and the board of the American Economic Association's Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession. She earned a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Fabio Natalucci is the Treasury Department's deputy assistant secretary for international financial stability and regulation and counselor to the undersecretary for international affairs for financial markets and institutions. In that capacity, he leads U.S. engagement on financial regulatory cooperation in the G-20 and at the Financial Stability Board, monitoring developments in the international financial sector and coordinating between domestic and international postcrisis regulatory reforms. Previously, Natalucci was a senior associate director in the Federal Reserve Board's division of monetary affairs. He also led a team working on issues including the provision of credit and leverage in dealer-intermediated markets and the interactions of dealer firms with financial institutions outside the traditional banking system. Natalucci has represented the Federal Reserve in international meetings and groups focused on the interaction between monetary policy, financial regulations, and financial stability. He earned a PhD in economics from New York University.
Barbara G. Novick is vice chairman of BlackRock and is a member of its global executive committee and enterprise risk management committee. She also chairs the firm's public policy steering committee. Prior to her current role, Novick headed BlackRock's global client group, where she oversaw global business development, marketing, and client service across equity, fixed income, liquidity, alternative investment, and real estate products for institutional and individual investors and their intermediaries. She is also a member of the executive committee of the Board of Governors of the Investment Company Institute. Prior to founding BlackRock, Novick was a vice president in the mortgage products group at the First Boston Corporation, where she headed the portfolio products team. Before joining First Boston, she was with Morgan Stanley. Novick earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Cornell University.
Neil D. Pearson is a professor of finance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research includes both work on asset pricing and the valuation and hedging of financial derivatives and other financial instruments. Pearson has published papers in a number of academic journals and is author of the book Risk Budgeting: Portfolio Problem Solving with Value-at-Risk. He is also an associate editor of the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and Economics Bulletin. He has consulted for a number of U.S. and international banks. He received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Marc Saidenberg is a principal in Ernst & Young's (EY) financial services advisory practice and is a member of EY's global regulatory network. Saidenburg has more than 20 years of banking experience and extensive cross-jurisdictional regulatory and supervisory experience, including more than 15 years with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In addition to his senior leadership roles in supervision, Saidenberg also represented the New York Fed on the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and served as cochair of the Basel Committee's working group on liquidity during the development of the Basel III capital and liquidity standards. He was also a managing director at Merrill Lynch, working in its finance and Treasury functions. He received a PhD in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor's degree in economics from Vassar College.
Scott Sleyster is senior vice president and chief investment officer for Prudential Financial Inc. He also oversees the company's alternative asset investing and the hedging of variable annuity guarantees. Sleyster is a member of Prudential's senior management committee and chairs the senior asset liability committee. Since joining Prudential, he has served in a variety of leadership positions including his current role of chief investment officer, head of Prudential's full-service retirement business, president of Prudential's guaranteed products business, and chief financial officer for Prudential's employee benefits division. Additionally, Sleyster has held roles in Prudential's Treasury, Derivatives, and Investment Management units. He currently serves as Prudential's representative to the Institute for International Finance's committee on asset and investment management. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts. He earned an MBA from Northwestern University and a finance degree from the University of Missouri.
Michael Sockin is an assistant professor of finance at the University of Texas's McCombs School of Business. His research focuses on the intersection of finance, public finance, and macroeconomics, with an emphasis on the real effects of financial market frictions. Sockin has been published in the Journal of Finance and has researched diverse areas including commodities, housing, mutual funds, and China's financial markets. He received his PhD in economics from Princeton University.
Ray Stanton is group chief information security officer and chief information risk officer at Redwood Technologies Group Limited. Previously, he was executive vice president at BT Advise and executive global head of BT's business continuity, security, and governance capability unit. He is a security and business adviser to a number of organizations. Prior to joining BT, Stanton was head of UK security services for Unisys Corporation and head of information security for British Aerospace. He has advised the Bank of England on the impact of security. He earned a bachelor's degree in business studies.
Satish Swamy is managing director, head of core fixed income, and a member of the leadership team at the Office of the Chief Investment Officer of the Board of Regents, University of California. Prior to joining the investment office of the University of California in 1998, he was vice president and director of Reuters Risk Management, quantitative analyst for Lincoln Investment Management, and fixed income analyst for Analytic Investment Management. He founded the San Francisco chapter of the Global Association of Risk Professionals in 1997 and served as chapter director for 18 years. He was president of the CFA Society of San Francisco in 2010 and served on its board from 2005 to 2012. From 2009 to 2015, he also served as a board member for the Center for Investment Studies at the USC Marshall School of business. Since 2005, he has been an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco, where he teaches fixed income and portfolio management classes. He earned a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering from the University of Bangalore, an MBA in finance from the University of Southern California, and a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Houston.
Paula Tkac is a vice president and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. She leads the financial markets group in the research department and serves as a policy adviser. She conducts research on various financial market topics including investor decision making, the mutual fund industry, financial regulation, and the recent financial crisis and policy responses. Her research has won two William F. Sharpe Awards at the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. Tkac was previously assistant vice president with responsibility for the financial markets group. Before joining the Atlanta Fed in 2000, she was on the faculty of the University of Notre Dame's finance department. Tkac earned bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in economics from the University of Chicago.
Larry Wall is the executive director of the Center for Financial Innovation and Stability in the research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Wall joined the financial structure team of the Bank's research department in 1982 and was promoted to his current position in 2013. In addition to pursuing his research agenda and providing policy advice, he leads CenFIS's activities including its conferences and Notes from the Vault, the center's online newsletter on financial innovation and stability topics. A certified public accountant, Wall is on the editorial boards of the Financial Review, Journal of Financial Research, Journal of Financial Services Research, Journal of Financial Stability, and Review of Financial Economics. He is also on the Academic Advisory Panel for the International Association of Deposit Insurers. He is a past president and chairman of the trustees of the Eastern Finance Association and has also been an adjunct faculty member of Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Wall earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of North Dakota and a doctoral degree in business from the University of North Carolina.
David Zervos is the chief market strategist for Jefferies LLC. He also appears regularly in the media as a frequent guest on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and Fox Business News. Zervos joined Jefferies in 2010 after spending 2009 as a visiting adviser in the division of monetary affairs at the Federal Reserve System's Board of Governors. Previously, he held a variety of research, sales, and trading positions in the private sector, most recently managing global macro portfolios for Brevan Howard and UBS O'Connor. He began his career as an economist at the Federal Reserve Board in the early 1990s. He received a master's degree and a PhD in economics from the University of Rochester.