Obituary of William McDonough

Obituary: William McDonough

William Joseph McDonough, April 21, 1934 – January 23, 2018., a resident of New York for 25+ years, died peacefully at home on Tuesday, January 23, 2018. He is survived by his children John McDonough, Eileen (McDonough) Tavenner, Bill McDonough, Paul McDonough, Fiona McDonough, Alana McDonough, Victoria Michaelis, and Melanie Vere Nicoll, their spouses and 16 grandchildren, by his sister Eileen Golan, and by his wife Suzanne McDonough. Bill was born in Chicago, IL, the son of Bartley and Mary Ann McDonough, and the brother of Mary, Eileen, and Loretto “Terry”. From 2006 to 2009 he served as a Member of the Executive Client Coverage Group of Bank of America Merrill Lynch (Formerly Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.) and as Special Advisor to the Chairman. From 2003 to 2005, he was Chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. From July 1993 to July 2003, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He also served as Vice Chairman and a permanent voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which formulates U.S. monetary policy. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements and as Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. He joined the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 1992 as Executive Vice President, head of the bank’s markets group and manager of the FOMC’s open market operations. He retired from First Chicago Corporation and its bank, First National Bank of Chicago, in 1989 after a 22-year career. He was Vice Chairman of the Board and a Director of the Corporation from 1986 until his retirement. Before joining the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, he served as an advisor to a variety of domestic and international organizations. Before his career with First Chicago, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1956 to 1961 and the U.S. State Department from 1961 to 1967. He earned a Master of Economics degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1962, and a Bachelor of Economics degree from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1956. He served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Carnegie Corp. of New York, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra where he was Vice Chairman, and Ravinia where he was Chairman. He served on the Board of Directors of Georgetown University, on the Board of Advisors of the Yale School of Management, and on the International Advisory Council of Columbia University. He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Vice Chairman of the Foreign Policy Association and Chairman of the Economic Club of New York. He is also an Emeritus member of the Group of Thirty, an influential Washington-based financial advisory body. He served as Chairman of the Investment Committee for the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, and Co-Chairman of the United Nations Association of the United States of America. He was a Member of the Knickerbocker Club, New York as well as the Waccabuc Club, Westchester NY. His honors include the Légion d’Honneur, rank Officiér, bestowed on him by President Chirac of France as well as medals from the Presidents of Mexico and Uruguay. A Memorial Service will be held at the Katonah Presbyterian Church at 31 Bedford Road, Katonah, NY at 4:00 pm on Saturday, January 27, 2018. Donations in Bill’s memory can be made to Georgetown University. For information on how to give to Georgetown, please go to http://giving.georgetown.edu/#how-to-give.