Program Directory

 
City Club of Cleveland - The Credit Crisis and the Role of the Federal Reserve
 
 
 
Sandra Pianalto
President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

As president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Sandra Pianalto has both national and local leadership responsibilities. She participates in the formulation of U.S. monetary policy, and she oversees 1,600 employees in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh who conduct economic research, supervise financial institutions, and provide payment services to commercial banks and the U.S. government.

Pianalto's tenure with the Bank spans 25 years. She joined the Bank in 1983 as an economist in the Research Department. She was appointed assistant vice president of public affairs in 1984, vice president and secretary to the board of directors in 1988, and first vice president and chief operating officer in 1993. She assumed her position as president in 2003.

Before joining the Bank, Pianalto was an economist at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and served on the staff of the Budget Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Pianalto is active in the Fourth District's civic community. She is chairman of the board of United Way of Greater Cleveland and serves on the boards of a number of other community organizations, including The Cleveland Foundation, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, University Hospitals, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education, and the Ohio Business Alliance for Higher Education and the Economy.

Pianalto earned a bachelor's degree in economics from The University of Akron and a master's degree in economics from The George Washington University. She is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and holds honorary degrees from The University of Akron, Baldwin-Wallace College, Kent State University, Ursuline College, Notre Dame College, Cleveland State University, and John Carroll University.
November 14, 2008