Mary C. Daly

Mary C. Daly is president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. In 2024, she is a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the monetary policymaking body of the Federal Reserve System.

Daly assumed leadership of the San Francisco Fed in October 2018, building on a distinguished career at the Bank that began in 1996. Starting as an economist specializing in labor market dynamics and economic inequality, she has since served as research advisor, vice president and head of macroeconomics, senior vice president and assistant director of research, and executive vice president and director of research.

Daly’s research advances understanding of the Federal Reserve’s maximum employment and inflation mandates, most notably through her studies of wage rigidity and the natural rate of unemployment. Her work has also highlighted the overall economic benefits of reducing wage and employment gaps between demographic groups. Through her speeches and public commentary, she helps demystify key issues faced by monetary policymakers, including topics such as inflation dynamics, financial stability, and the relationship between monetary policy and inequality. She has held visiting research positions at the Congressional Budget Office, Cornell University’s School of Public Policy, and multiple universities and research institutes in California.

Daly’s leadership is underpinned by her belief in “3D public service,” the need for public servants to be fully human—vulnerable, compassionate, optimistic, and pragmatic—to help solve the most pressing issues of our time. As a leader dedicated to raising the profile of public service, Daly has served on numerous advisory boards, including the Congressional Budget Office, the Social Security Administration, the Office of Rehabilitation Research and Training, the Institute of Medicine, the Library of Congress, Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and the Center for First-Generation Student Success. She currently serves on the Urban Institute’s Board of Trustees.

Daly earned a Ph.D. from Syracuse University, a master’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She also completed a National Institute of Aging post-doctoral fellowship at Northwestern University.

Updated April 2024