Keynote Speakers

Michael T. Owyang

Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Michael T. Owyang works in the macroeconomics group in the Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Dr. Owyang’s research interests include the effects of monetary policy, the rationality of forecasters, and the timing of regional and statewide recessions. He joined the Federal Reserve Bank’s Research Department in October 2000, and has authored or co-authored 33 working papers and 56 articles that delve into various facets of economic research and human behavior. In addition to purely scholarly research (“When Do Recessions Begin and End?”, “Do Oil Shocks Drive Business Cycles?”), Owyang has been involved in research that explores the direction soccer goalies should anticipate for a penalty kick, the evolution of leisure time in the United States, the link between merit raises and appearance, and why married men earn more. Dr. Owyang earned master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from the University of California, San Diego, and a BA in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

The Honorable Greg Fischer

Mayor, Louisville Metro

A successful entrepreneur, businessman and philanthropist, Greg Fischer became Louisville’s 50th mayor on January 3, 2011. In the first five weeks after taking office, Mayor Fischer directed a review of city government, formed the Merger 2.0 Task Force to insure that government consolidation is working for all citizens, settled two long-running lawsuits and announced a new corporate headquarters relocating to Louisville. A Louisville native, Greg graduated from Louisville’s Trinity High School and majored in Economics at Vanderbilt University.