Jonathan Willis has been named vice president and senior economist in the Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, announced Raphael Bostic, president and chief executive officer of the Atlanta Fed.

Willis joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City as an economist in 2000. He was promoted to senior economist in 2004 and was appointed assistant vice president and economist in 2013. Willis was appointed vice president in 2013 and served as interim research director from 2017 to 2018. Since that time, he has also served as the principal monetary policy adviser to the Kansas City Fed's president.

Willis's research focuses on labor market dynamics over the business cycle and the relationship between the price-setting behavior of firms and inflation dynamics. His work has been published in journals such as International Economic Review and Economica. In addition to working at the Kansas City Fed, he has served as a visiting assistant professor at the University of Texas.

Willis earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Grinnell College and a doctoral degree in economics from Boston University. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta serves the Sixth Federal Reserve District, which encompasses Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and sections of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. As part of the nation's central banking system, the Atlanta Fed participates in setting national monetary policy, supervises numerous commercial banks, and provides a variety of financial services to depository institutions and the U.S. government.