Students Visit FDIC and Federal Reserve

The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business is just a stone’s throw away from the nation’s capital, enabling students to interact with some of the nation’s highest-ranking business officials. This month, Smith School finance professor Elinda Kiss utilized the school’s geographic advantage to take students on experiential trips to the FDIC and Federal Reserve.

“The opportunity to meet with senior bank regulators and officials is great for my students,” explains Kiss, who worked for the Federal Reserve before joining Smith in 2001.

Students from Kiss’ Banking Fellows and MBA banking courses accompanied her on the trips. In each of these courses, students learned about the United States banking system and how agencies regulate it.

“I gained valuable insight into how two of the most influential organizations in the world view the economy and what it will look like in the future,” said MBA student Daniel Yanushevsky.

At the FDIC, students met with Chief Economist Rich Brown, who presented his thoughts on the FDIC’s role in preventing another financial crisis like that of 2007 to 2010. They also had lunch with Dan Bean, a member of the FDIC’s economics staff, in an eighth floor dining room overlooking the national mall.

On the trip to the Federal Reserve, students toured the Federal Open Market Committee’s board room and spent time with Janet Yellen, the current Federal Reserve Chair.

“Since I worked at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and the Resolution Trust Corporation, I know many bank regulators in the D.C. area,” says Kiss. “Janet Yellen has spoken to my students for the past four years and told me she looks forward to seeing my students next year.”

Yellen engaged in a discussion on monetary policy, during which she explained how the nation is recovering from the recent economic crisis. She spoke about the decreased unemployment rate, wage growth and increased confidence that businesses feel today.

“Luckily, nobody asked her when she would increase federal interest rates,” joked Yanushevsky. “But this trip could not have come at a better time in terms of my education and the current economic state.”

Christina Germano, intern, Office of Marketing Communications