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Advisory Board

William R. Rhodes
Vice Chair of Advisory Board

William R. Rhodes is an American banker and philanthropist. He is former chairman, CEO and president of Citibank, and senior vice chairman of Citigroup. He served in various senior executive positions at Citi from 1957 until his retirement from Citigroup on April 30, 2010.He gained worldwide reputation for international financial diplomacy in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000’s as a result of his leadership in helping manage the external-debt crises that involved developing nations and their creditors worldwide. During that period and in the 1990s, he headed the advisory committees of international banks that negotiated debt-restructuring agreements for Argentina, Brazil, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Nicaragua and Iraq. In 1998, when the Republic of Korea experienced liquidity problems, he chaired the international bank group that negotiated the extension of short-term debt of the Korean banking system. In early 1999, at the request of the government of Brazil, he acted as worldwide coordinator to help implement the maintenance of trade and interbank lines by foreign commercial banks to Brazil. He has since served as a trusted advisor to governments, financial officials and corporations worldwide.

He is the director of the Private Export Funding Corporation; chairman emeritus of the U.S.-Korea Business Council; vice chairman of the National Committee on U.S. - China Relations; a director of the Korea Society; a member of the chairman’s advisory council and senior fellow of The Hudson Institute; a member of the Board at the Foreign Policy Association; and a former trustee of the Economic Club of New York. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, The Group of Thirty and the Advisory Council of the Brazilian American Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Rhodes is a member of the Board of Directors of the Volcker Alliance; a member of European-American Chamber of Commerce New York and a member of the Executive Committee, Bretton Woods Committee Board of Directors. He is the first vice chairman emeritus of the Institute of International Finance and chairman emeritus of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas. He previously served as chairman of the New York Blood Center, the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade and the U.S. Hong Kong Business Council.

William Rhodes is a life trustee of The New York-Presbyterian Hospital; a member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Business Committee and Chairman’s Council, and chairman emeritus of the Board of Trustees of the Northfield Mount Hermon School. He has received decorations and honors from various governments and institutions, including an honorary doctorate in humane letters from his alma mater Brown University, where he established the William R. Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance; a member of Center on Capitalism and Society at Columbia University; Officer and Chevalier of France’s Legion of Honor; decorations from Poland, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Jamaica; and multiple awards from not-for-profit organizations such as the Africa-America Institute, Arab Bankers Association of North America, the America-Israel Friendship League and Sciences Po Foundation, Pro Mujer, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boy’s Scouts Award in recognition of his contributions to international banking and finance.

He authored the book BANKER TO THE WORLD: Leadership Lessons from the Front Lines of Global Finance. The book is available in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese and a separate edition published by Tata in India and the Sub-continent. The book has two editions in English and Spanish.

 

Publications by William R. Rhodes

Banker to the World: Leadership Lessons From the Front Lines of Global Finance

In more than five decades with Citi, William "Bill" Rhodes, the firm's former senior vice chairman and senior international officer, has worked with senior business leaders, statesmen, and strongmen and brokered immense financial deals while looking across the table at finance ministers. More

Recent Papers and Opinions by William R. Rhodes

Who Is to Blame for the New Banking Crisis?”, In Project Syndicate, William R. Rhodes & Stuart P.M. Mackintosh consider the role that deregulation played in the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, March 16, 2023

Brace Yourself: Mass Inflation Warning”, American Consequences, December 2, 2021

William Rhodes Remarks, Legion of Honor Ceremony Promotion to the rank of Commander”  Remarks by William R. Rhodes - CFS Advisory Board Chairman - at the ceremony promoting him to the rank of Commander in the Legion of Honor by France, June 30, 2021

Breakingviews - Guest view: Consider a debt for vaccines program CFS Chairman of the Advisor Board William R. Rhodes and World Health Organization epidemiologist Cristina Valencia offer an intriguing idea to help ameliorate the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America... debt for vaccine swaps, March 9, 2021

Critical Issues for the Bretton Woods Institutions”, Remarks by William R. Rhodes at the Bretton Woods 2014: The Founders and the Future Conference, September 3, 2014  Read remarks

Bloomberg Radio Interview with Bill Rhodes” Vonnie Quinn, co-host of The Hays Advantage, interviewed Bretton Woods 2014: The Founders and the Future conference delegate Bill Rhodes, CEO and president of William R. Rhodes Global Advisors, September 3, 2014

Today's Central Economic Challenges”, CFS Roundtable Presentation, December 5, 2013

 

Advisory Board

Randal K. Quarles

William R. Rhodes

Eduardo Aninat, Ph.D.

Sheila Bair

Senator Bill Bradley

Joyce Chang

M. Shafik Gabr

Charles Goodhart, CBE, FBA

Henry Kaufman, Ph.D.

Barbara G. Novick

Guillermo Ortiz, Ph.D.

Richard L. Sandor, Ph.D., Dr. Sc.h.c.

Myron S. Scholes, Ph.D.

The Honorable Carole L. Brookins (2010-20)

Judge Richard A. Posner (2010-20)



Experts

Sheila Bair
Advisory Board Member and Senior Fellow

William A. Barnett
Director / Advances in Monetary and Financial Measurement

David Beers
Senior Fellow / Sovereign Risk Analysis and Policy

Bradley J. Bondi
Senior Fellow / Legal Studies

Kevin R. Brock
Senior Fellow / Cybersecurity Strategy

Alvin Chua
Senior Advisor

Stephen Dizard
Special Counselor

John D. Feldmann
Senior Fellow

Kate Flanagan
Senior Fellow / Consumer Finance

Peter Flocos, Esq. (Trustee)
Managing Director, Policy and Regulation

Patricia Wilson Fridley
Senior Advisor

Diane B. Glossman
Senior Fellow / Financial Institutions

Lawrence Goodman
President and Founder

Steve H. Hanke
Special Counselor

Steven Lofchie
Senior Fellow / Legal Studies

Robin L. Lumsdaine
Senior Fellow / International Finance

Jack Malvey
Special Counselor

David X Martin
Special Counselor

Ryan Scott Mattson
Research Associate

Nicholas Sargen
Senior Fellow / Global Markets and Investment Management

Charles Schott
Senior Advisor

Kurt Schuler
Senior Fellow / Financial History

Liting Su
Research Associate

Jeff van den Noort
Chief Technology Officer

Yubo Wang
Senior Fellow / Financial Markets