Mary C. Daly

Mary C. Daly is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. In that capacity, she serves the Twelfth Federal Reserve District in setting monetary policy. Prior to that, she was the executive vice president and director of research at the San Francisco Fed, which she joined in 1996.

Ms. Daly has served as an advisor to the Congressional Budget Office, the Social Security Administration, the Institute of Medicine and the Library of Congress. She has also been a visiting professor at Cornell University and the University of California, Davis. Ms. Daly holds a Ph.D. in economics from Syracuse University, an M.S. degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a B.A. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She completed a National Institute of Aging post-doctoral fellowship at Northwestern University and is a research affiliate at the IZA Institute of Labor Economics.

Ms. Daly’s research focuses on employment and wage trends, economic growth, and economic shocks. Her research has advanced understanding of the Federal Reserve’s maximum employment and inflation mandate.

She regularly speaks across the U.S. and internationally. She also travels through the Twelfth District to hear first-hand how businesses and households are experiencing the economy. She hosts an award-winning podcast, Zip Code Economies.

Daly grew up in Missouri. When she was 15, she dropped out of high school and started working several jobs to help support her family. She went on to earn a GED and begin her career in economics. She brings her life experience to her work, remembering how critical economic opportunity is for all Americans.

Updated February 2025