Federal Reserve Governor Waller to Keynote BSU Student Achievement Conference in April
BSU class of '81 graduate Christopher Waller, a sitting Federal Reserve governor once shortlisted to replace the Fed chair, keynoted the school's student conference Tuesday.
Christopher Waller graduated from Bemidji State with a B.S. in economics in 1981. Four decades later, he returned to campus as one of seven members of the Federal Reserve System's Board of Governors and, until recently, a named candidate to lead it.
Waller delivered the keynote address Tuesday at BSU's 27th Annual Student Achievement Conference, opening the program before an audience assembled in the Beaux Arts Ballroom of Hobson Union. The 1 p.m. ceremony served as a homecoming for the 1981 graduate, who spoke about how his time at Bemidji State prepared him for a leadership role at the Federal Reserve.
His standing within the Fed has grown considerably since he was confirmed to the Board of Governors in December 2020. Last October, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that Waller was among five candidates on President Trump's short list to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell, a shortlist that put his name at the center of national financial policy discussions. BSU had recognized him as an outstanding alumnus a full decade earlier, in 2014, well before that level of national scrutiny arrived.
After leaving Bemidji, Waller completed an M.A. and Ph.D. at Washington State University before building the academic and policy career that eventually carried him to Washington, D.C.
The conference, built around the theme "Create, Innovate and Inspire," showcases undergraduate and graduate student work spanning BSU's more than 80 majors and 11 graduate degrees. Past editions have drawn between 150 and 200 student presenters. The event has not always made it to in-person completion: the 2025 conference moved online after a 10-inch snowfall blanketed the region, and the 2023 gathering was cancelled entirely due to hazardous weather, a recurring challenge for a northern Minnesota institution staging a major event in early spring.
All conference activities were free and open to the public. BSU, situated on the shore of Lake Bemidji, enrolls nearly 5,000 students.
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