Esther L. George

Esther L. George was president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City from October 11, 2011 to January 31, 2023. 

George was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, and grew up on her family’s farm in nearby Faucett. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Missouri Western State University and a master’s in business administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She is also a graduate of the American Bankers Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking and the Stanford University Executive Program.

George joined the Kansas City Fed in 1982 and was appointed to the official staff in 1995. She has held various leadership positions with the Bank, including in the Bank’s research support functions, Public Affairs and Human Resources.

Before being appointed president on October 1, 2011, George had been the Kansas City Fed’s first vice president and chief operating officer since August 2009, where she was responsible for directing the Bank's operations throughout the Tenth Federal Reserve District. Additionally, she has served as the acting director of the Federal Reserve's Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, DC.

In January 2009, George was named executive vice president in charge of the Kansas City Fed’s Division of Supervision and Risk Management, a division she led as senior vice president since 2001. In that position, she was responsible for the supervision and regulation of the Tenth District's 170 state-chartered member banks and nearly 1,000 bank and financial holding companies, as well as the Bank's discount window and risk management functions. During her tenure in banking supervision, she was directly involved in the banking supervision and discount window lending activities during the banking crisis of the 1980s and post-9/11. She is a former chair of the Federal Reserve System's Community Banking Organizations Management Group.

Beyond the Tenth Federal Reserve District, George’s experience in international central banking issues includes involvement with the Bank for International Settlement’s Financial Stability Institute programs in Lima, Peru, and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. She has also served as the Tenth District’s lead officer for international partnership programs involving the central banks of Morocco and Iraq. Additionally, she hosts the Kansas City Fed’s annual economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that is attended by central bankers from around the globe.

George retired in January 2023 after reaching the mandatory retirement age for Reserve Bank presidents. 

Written by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. See disclaimer.