Mary C. Daly, the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, will be the keynote speaker at the 2023 commencement ceremony for the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.
“President Daly’s leadership emphasizes the important role that public service institutions – especially the Federal Reserve System – can play in building an inclusive and sustainable economy,” said Dana Goldman, dean and the C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper chair of the USC Price School. “We are honored to have her as our commencement speaker and excited to hear the message she will deliver to our graduates and future leaders in public policy.”
Daly will address more than 6,000 USC Price School undergraduate, masters and doctoral students and their families at The Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on May 12, 2023. The event will also be live streamed.
“As a society, we’re experiencing increases in the complexity of the challenges we face, and also the pace at which they emerge,” Daly said. “The graduates of the Price School are rising to meet these challenges with boldness and courage, and I am thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of these leaders as they enter the next phase of their public service journey.”
Daly is at the forefront of the Federal Reserve System’s response to high inflation as an alternate member of the Federal Open Market Committee, a panel that sets monetary policy to achieve the Fed’s dual mandate of stable prices and maximum employment.
As head of the San Francisco Fed, Daly oversees the central bank’s largest and most diverse Federal Reserve District, serving one fifth of the nation’s population. Daly has led the San Francisco Fed since 2018 and has worked for the bank since 1996. She previously served as its executive vice president and director of research, as well as an economist specializing in labor market dynamics and economic inequality. As an economist, she’s published research on topics ranging from wage growth and income inequality to disability insurance and indices of happiness.
Before rising to the helm of a regional Federal Reserve Bank, Daly overcame early adversity. She dropped out of high school to financially support her family, before getting her GED. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics, philosophy and psychology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, a master’s degree in economics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a Ph.D. in economics and public policy from Syracuse University.
She has served on advisory boards including the Congressional Budget Office, the Social Security Administration, the Office of Rehabilitation Research and Training, the Institute of Medicine and the Library of Congress.