The first woman to head the nation’s central bank, Janet Yellen will join another Fed alumnus: Ben Bernanke.
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, the first woman to head the nation’s central bank, got a boisterous send-off from Fed staff, but she isn’t taking any time off. After her last day at the Fed on Friday, she will start a new job Monday at the Brookings Institution.
The Washington think tank announced that Yellen will be joining the institution’s Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy as a distinguished fellow in residence. One of her colleagues will be her predecessor, former Chairman Ben Bernanke, who joined Brookings in 2014 when he stepped down from the Fed.
In a tweet Friday, Bernanke said, “I congratulate Janet on her outstanding public service and look forward to being her colleague at the Brookings Institution.”
Yellen is leaving after one term as Fed chair. President Trump, who praised Yellen’s performance, decided against offering her a second term and instead tapped Fed board member Jerome Powell. Powell will be sworn in Monday.
Hundreds of Fed staffers gathered Thursday to celebrate Yellen’s Fed tenure, welcoming her with prolonged applause when she appeared in the Fed’s giant atrium, according to participants at the staff gathering. Yellen told the staff that they would be in good hands under Powell’s leadership.
In his remarks, Powell praised Yellen as the most qualified person to hold the job of Fed chair in the central bank’s history.
Powell, who has served on the Fed board with Yellen since 2012, ended his remarks by popping the collar of his suit jacket.
He joined other Fed staffers and others online have used the #PopYourCollar hashtag on social media in recent days in tribute to Yellen’s trademark wardrobe style of wearing her collars turned up.
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