For immediate release: July 16, 2021
Brian Watson has been named vice president and chief strategy officer for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He will serve as an adviser to the Executive Leadership Committee (ELC) reporting to First Vice President André Anderson. Watson joins the Bank from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he most recently served as vice president of the Strategic Planning Office.
Watson will lead a team in the Atlanta Fed's newly created Strategy Office, which will work closely with the Executive Office and ELC to advance the Bank's vision and direction and coordinate the strategic planning process. The Strategy Office is expected to be fully staffed and operational later this summer.
Watson joined the New York Fed in 2012 as a senior associate in the Corporate Group's Business Process Excellence Office and was later promoted to officer. He moved to the Strategic Planning Office in 2015 and was promoted to assistant vice president in 2016. He has served in his most recent position since 2019. Prior to his Fed career, Watson worked in the financial services sector and as a management consultant. He holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the Pennsylvania State University and a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta serves the Sixth Federal Reserve District, which encompasses Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and sections of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. As part of the nation's central banking system, the Atlanta Fed participates in setting national monetary policy, supervises numerous commercial banks, and provides a variety of financial services to depository institutions and the U.S. government.