Eye Of Hawk Kashkari

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

11-27-2017

Campus Unit

College of Business & Public Administration

Abstract

by: Kaylee Cusack

It was a turnout usually reserved for a bestselling author or a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer.

But on Monday night, the Gorecki Alumni Center was overflowing with UND students, staff, faculty and community members eager to ask questions of the regional leader of economic policymaking.

Neel Kashkari, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, took a seat on the stage next to UND President Mark Kennedy on Sept. 25 for the latest Eye of the Hawk lecture – this one, a town hall conversation hosted by the UND College of Business & Public Administration and sponsored by First State Bank of North Dakota.

“North Dakotans are wonderful hosts,” Kaskari said to the more than 200 people in the crowd, which spilled into other viewing rooms of the building. “I really appreciate the hospitality you’ve shown me.”

Kaskari has led the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis since January 2016. There, he oversees operations of the bank and serves on the Federal Open Market Committee as a key player in monetary policy in Washington, D.C.

President Kennedy said he was thrilled Kashkari accepted his invitation to Grand Forks.

“Only the Pope and the leaders of the U.S., China, Europe and Russia rank higher than the head of the Federal Reserve on Forbes list of the world’s most powerful people,” President Kennedy said. “Similarly, the head of our region’s Federal Reserve Bank has significant influence over the economic fate of our state.”

In 2014, Kashkari ran for governor of California. Before that, he served in a number of leadership positions within the U.S. Treasury Department, the investment management firm PIMCO, and Goldman Sachs.

Kashkari’s educational training is in mechanical engineering – he actually began his career developing NASA space technology. But his focus on Monday was more grounded.

“The reason that I’m here is to hear directly from you – what’s happening in the local economy, what’s happening in the local job market – to make me smarter, so when I go back to Washington, D.C., I can bring this knowledge back,” he said.

Neel Kashkari, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, took a seat on the stage next to UND President Mark Kennedy on Sept. 25 for the latest Eye of the Hawk lecture – this one, a town hall conversation hosted by the UND College of Business & Public Administration and sponsored by First State Bank of North Dakota. Photo by Tyler Ingham.

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