On Board Online •NYSSBA News • August 18, 2008

Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, served two terms as a member of the Montgomery Township (N.J.) Board of Education. According to a colleague, Bernanke’s school board experience was formative for him:  

“I think the best thing that ever happen to Ben – Chairman Bernanke – is he served on the school board in Princeton, New Jersey. And I’m very serious about that ....What allows him to run a meeting the way he does, with harmony and results, I think, was that training on the school board.

I ran for the United States Senate. I’ve negotiated with the U.S. Congress on behalf of the president – twice. That’s a piece of cake compared to being on a school board.”

– Richard Fisher, president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke during a May 28, 2008 speech to the Commonwealth Club of California. To listen to the address, go to http://www.commonwealthclub.org/ archive/08/08-05richardfisher-audio.html. The relevant portion of Fisher’s remarks occurs about 40 minutes into his 60-minute speech.