Former San Francisco Fed President Parry Is Anything But Retired

Since he left the presidency of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in June of 2004, Robert T. Parry has found the demands of serving on boards of corporations, research groups, and consulting work anything but a traditional retired life.

“I do have more time for personal activities, but not as much time as I expected,” Parry told NABE News in a late July e-mail interview.  The former NABE president said that he has found that his professional activities, “especially my work on public company boards is more time consuming than I expected.  However, I do enjoy the work a lot.”

Parry’s official retirement from the San Francisco Fed capped more than 18 years at the helm there and a distinguished career that began at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C., where he was a research economist for the Board of Governors. He left the Fed to join Security Pacific National Bank, where he rose through the ranks to serve as executive vice president and chief economist. That was his position when he was president of NABE from 1979-80.

Transition to Private Sector Continues

To a certain extent, Parry said that his transition to retirement from the Fed “is more difficult than I expected.”  He misses the involvement in monetary policy and being part of the San Francisco bank’s “team effort.”

“I had terrific people working with me, and it is difficult not having those resources available to me and the professional stimulation they provided,” he said. “Very simply, I always believed that the business of the Fed was important and that the Fed is perhaps the most effective quasi-public institution in this country.  It is impossible not to miss that work and association.  It does, however, provide wonderful memories.”

Currently, Parry serves on three corporate boards.  He is a director of both Countrywide Financial Corporation and Countrywide Bank, companies that provide mortgage banking and diversified financial services. He is also a director of PACCAR Inc., a global manufacturer of trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt, and DAF nameplates.  The third company is Janus Capital Group, Inc, an asset manager firm, where he serves on the board of directors.

While his new place in the private sector theoretically gives him more latitude to comment on economic issues, Parry said that sees his role as a commentator as fairly limited.  He does respond to queries from the media and wants his observations on monetary policy and the economy to be “constructive and useful.”   In brief, he said he is “reasonably optimistic” about growth prospects for the U.S. economy.  “I also believe that the Fed is committed to maintaining low rates of inflation and that should enhance longer-term prospects for economic growth.”

Throughout his career, he has served in leadership positions in professional and community organizations.  Currently, Parry serves as a director of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Also, he served on the San Francisco Council of Boy Scouts of America, on the board of the United Way of the Bay Area, and is a past president of the Bay Area Council, which is a voice of hundreds of major employers throughout the San Francisco Bay area.

LANABE Establishes Parry Award

In recognition of Parry’s leadership and contributions, the Los Angeles Chapter of NABE has established the Robert T. Parry Award for Exemplary Contributions to the Field of Economics.
In June, LANABE named Nancy Sidhu as the first recipient of the award.  Parry congratulated Sidhu, whom he said has had “a very favorable impact on the local community and on NABE.”  She is vice president and senior economist of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation and past president of NABE chapters in both Los Angeles and Chicago.

As far as his retirement goes, Parry is quick to point out that he and his wife Brenda have managed to spend longer periods of time at their home in the Lake Tahoe area, although he is not getting in as much skiing as he would like.  The Parrys also have a home in Camarillo, Calif., a rich agricultural area about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles.  Parry said “the weather is terrific” and they are close to their daughter’s home. They also visit their son in Austin, Texas, and entertain children and grandchildren in their California home.

Then there are the 52 avocado trees and orange and lemon trees—all part of their newly cultivated “Parry patch.”  And, Parry said, Brenda is showing Norwegian Elkhounds.

So the adjustment continues, with Parry holding to his goal of “making better progress toward getting a better balance between work and leisure activities.”