Jan. 31 will mark the end of an eraone that has spanned nearly 20 years and four U.S. presidentsAlan Greenspan’s last day as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

On Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m. Jeffrey M. Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, will talk about”Transition and Continuity at the Federal Reserve in 2006”in Room 459 of the West Virginia University Business and Economics Building.

Lacker’s speech is part of the Acordia/Royal&SunAlliance Distinguished Lecture Series within the WVU College of Business and Economics. The lecture is free and open to the public and will be followed by a reception.

A native of Lexington , Ky. , Lacker received a bachelor of arts degree in economics in 1977 from Franklin and Marshall College . Following graduation he joined Wharton Econometrics in Philadelphia and went on to earn a Ph.D. in economics in 1984 from the University of Wisconsin .

Lacker was an assistant professor of economics at the Krannert School of Management, Purdue University , from 1984-89, prior to joining the Federal Reserve Bank in 1989 as an economist in the banking area of the Research Department. He was named research officer in 1994, vice president in 1996 and senior vice president and director of research in May 1999. Lacker took office Aug. 1, 2004, as the seventh

chief executive of the Fifth District Federal Reserve Bank at Richmond .

The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is one of 12 District Reserve Banks that together with the Board of Governors in Washington , D.C. , make up the Federal Reserve System. The Richmond Fed serves the Fifth Federal Reserve District, which encompasses the District of Columbia , Maryland , North Carolina , South Carolina , Virginia , and most of West Virginia .

Lacker has published numerous articles in professional journals on

monetary, financial and payment economics and has lectured at universities and central banks across the country. In 1992-93 he taught at The College of William and Mary, and in 1997, was a visiting scholar at the Swiss National Bank.

The College of Business and Economics has offered the Acordia/Royal&SunAlliance Distinguished Lecture Series since 1984. For more information, call 304-293-7804.