The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis announced today that the Board of Governors has designated Srilata Zaheer as board chair and Harry Melander as deputy chair, and appointed Chris Hilger as a new Class C director, each effective Jan. 1, 2020.

Sri Zaheer, dean of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota since 2012, was designated chair of the board of directors for 2020. Zaheer has been a board member since 2017, first as a Class B director and more recently as a Class C director.

“It is a privilege to be chosen to serve in this important role,” said Zaheer. “I look forward to better understanding and communicating the challenges faced by the industries responsible for the economic vitality of the Ninth District, while working with the Bank’s leadership in support of its mission.”

Harry Melander, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council in St. Paul, is re-designated as deputy chair for 2020. Melander joined the board in 2016 as a Class C director and has served as deputy chair since 2018.

Chris Hilger, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Securian Financial Inc. in St. Paul, has been appointed as a Class C director to a three-year term. He succeeds Kendall Powell, who served his maximum two terms as a director.

Background about the Minneapolis Fed board of directors

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. 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 Class C directors, who are selected to represent the public with “due but not exclusive consideration to the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labor, and consumers,” according to the Federal Reserve Act.

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.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that, with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System, the nation’s central bank. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is responsible for the Ninth Federal Reserve District, which includes Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis participates in setting national monetary policy, supervises numerous banking organizations, and provides a variety of payments services to financial institutions and the U.S. government.