Adriana D. Kugler, who helps set interest rates, resigns as Fed governor

The Federal Reserve Board announced on Friday that Adriana D. Kugler will step down from her position as governor.

Kugler, whose term was set to expire at the end of January 2026, joined the board of governors in September 2023 after being nominated by former President Joe Biden. She submitted her letter of resignation to President Donald Trump on Friday with an effective resignation date of Aug. 8.

“It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,” Kugler wrote. “I am especially honored to have served during a critical time in achieving our dual mandate of bringing down prices and keeping a strong and resilient labor market.”

As a Federal Reserve governor, Kugler actively served on several committees, including those on financial stability, Federal Reserve bank affairs and board affairs, as well as the subcommittee on smaller regional and community banking.

Kugler also represented the board at the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies and visited 10 of the 12 Federal Reserve districts, meeting with a variety of local communities during her tenure.

“I appreciate Dr. Kugler’s service on the Board and wish her very well in her future endeavors,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a statement. “She brought impressive experience and academic insights to her work on the Board.”

Her resignation clears the way for Trump to nominate a new Fed governor. Two of his earlier picks, Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, dissented at Wednesday’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, favoring a rate cut over holding steady.

Before joining the board, Kugler held multiple roles at Georgetown University, serving as vice provost for faculty and as a public policy professor at the McCourt School, where she will return in the fall of 2025.

She previously served as the U.S. executive director at the World Bank — earning the U.S. Treasury’s Chase Award for her contributions to the multilateral development system — and as chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor from 2011 to 2013.

Kugler earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley, and she graduated from McGill University with first-class joint honors degrees in economics and political science.