President & Senior Executives

Barbara Benson is senior vice president of People, Strategy and Finance. In addition, she directs the Bank's succession planning efforts and leadership development activities, including the System Leadership Conference. She is also a member of the Bank's Management Committee.

Before assuming her current role, Benson was senior vice president of the Leadership Development area while also responsible for finance, office administration, and marketing for the System's financial services products in the Customer Relations and Support Office. Previously, she was vice president of Strategic Planning and Leadership Development. Subsequent to that, Benson was the head of the Human Resources department. She also spent 19 years in the Supervision and Regulation department, where she held positions of increasing responsibility and ultimately served as a vice president. She began her career at the Chicago Fed in 1980 as an assistant bank holding company examiner.

Benson graduated with a bachelor's degree in history from Brown University and earned an MAT in education from Northwestern University. She also attended the University of Michigan's Business School.