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Photo of Jerry L. Jordan

Jerry L. Jordan

  • President, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, 1992–2003

Jerry L. Jordan served as the ninth president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland from March 1992 to January 2003. He brought extensive experience in commercial banking, academia, and the Federal Reserve System to the position. 

After earning a bachelor’s degree in economics from California State University at Northridge and a doctorate in economics from the University of California at Los Angeles, Jordan was employed from 1967 to 1975 at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He served in several positions, including senior vice president and director of research. During that time, he was also an economic consultant with Deutsche Bundesbank in Frankfurt, Germany. 

From 1975 to 1980, Jordan worked in the commercial banking industry as senior vice president and economist at Pittsburgh National Bank. He then served as dean and professor at the Robert O. Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico from 1980 to 1985.  During a break in his employment at the University of New Mexico, Jordan served as a member of President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers from April 1981 to July 1982. He was also appointed by President Reagan as a member of the US Gold Commission in 1981. 

In 1985, Jordan joined Interstate Bancorp in Los Angeles as senior vice president and chief economist. He remained there until his 1992 appointment as president of the Cleveland Fed, where he served until his resignation in January 2003. 

During his presidency, Jordan was noted for his extensive knowledge of monetary policy, banking, and economic issues. He also earned a national reputation in the public policy arena and was esteemed for his experience in both the public and private sectors. In the Jordan years, the Cleveland Fed had one of the System’s largest research departments. 

Since 2003, Jordan has been president of the Pacific Academy for Advanced Studies and a trustee of the Foundation for Research in Economics and Education. During his career, he has also been an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of California at Los Angeles. 

Jordan is a past member of the American Bankers Association’s Economic Advisory Committee, and he is a member of the American Economics Association, the Mont Pelerin Society, and the Executive Committee of the Western Economic Association. He served on the board of directors and as past president of the National Association of Business Economists. Jordan holds honorary doctorates from Denison and Capital universities.


Written by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. See disclaimer.