For Immediate Release: Dec. 9, 2010

Dwight Blackwood has been named assistant vice president in the legal department, announced Dennis Lockhart, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Blackwood's promotion takes effect Dec. 15, 2010.

Blackwood joined the Atlanta Fed's legal team in 1992 as an assistant counsel and was promoted to associate counsel in 1994, then senior counsel in 1996. He was promoted to assistant general counsel in 2003.

Before joining the Bank, Blackwood served as an attorney with the Resolution Trust Corporation and for three years as an associate with Chadbourne & Parke, a law firm in New York. He received a bachelor's degree in political science and accounting from Brooklyn College in 1984 and a juris doctorate degree from Cornell University Law School in 1987.

During his time with the Bank, Blackwood has provided legal support and analysis to various business areas, including check adjustments, credit and risk, human resources, checks, cash and litigation. In recent years, he has focused primarily on providing legal counsel to supervision and regulation as well as credit and risk. He served for more than four years as a legal instructor in the Law Enforcement officer training academy.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta serves the Sixth Federal Reserve District, which encompasses Alabama, Florida and 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.