John Silvia served as the 59th Boyles lecturer on Friday, March 31, 2017 (3:00 p.m.)
Speaker Name: John Silvia
Speaker Title: Chief Economist
Speaker Company: Wells Fargo & Co.
Speaker Bio: Based in Charlotte, N.C., Dr. John Silvia has held his position since he joined Wachovia, a Wells Fargo predecessor, in 2002 as the company's chief economist.
Prior to his current position, Dr. Silvia worked on Capitol Hill as senior economist for the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee and chief economist for the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Before that, he was chief economist of Kemper Funds and managing director of Scudder Kemper Investments, Inc.
Dr. Silvia served as the president of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) in 2015 and was awarded a NABE Fellow Certificate of Recognition in 2011 for Outstanding Contributions to the Business Economics Profession and Leadership Among Business Economists to the Nation. For the second time in three years, he was awarded the best overall forecast by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, as well as the best unemployment rate forecast for 2011. Dr. Silvia is on the Bloomberg Best Forecast list for his forecasts of GDP, the ISM manufacturing index, housing starts, and the unemployment rate.
Dr.. Silvia holds B.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Northeastern University in Boston and has a master's degree in economics from Brown University. John's first book, Dynamic Economic Decision Making, was published by Wiley in August 2011. His second book, Economic & Business Forecasting, was published in 2014, also by Wiley. Dr. Silvia is a Certified Business Economist (CBE).
Dr. Silvia serves as a member of the Blue Chip Panel of Economic Forecasters and also serves on an informal advisory group for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. He served as chair for the Economic Advisory Committee of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Economic Advisory Roundtable. Dr. Silvia also serves on the finance committee for the Mint Museum in Charlotte, and is a regular lecturer to the Cornell Food Executive Program. Dr. Silvia is past president of the Charlotte Economics Club. He has also served on economic advisory committees to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the Public Securities Association.
A strong supporter of education and civic affairs, Dr. Silvia serves as a member of the Business Advisory Council at the Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University and on the President's Council for Charlotte's Central Piedmont Community College. He has previously served as a board member of the British American Business Council of North Carolina, and on the Economic Development Board for the State of North Carolina, a special appointment by the Governor. He has also served on the Business Advisory Committee for the City of Charlotte.
Lecture Video