Fed Chair Jerome Powell addresses Princeton graduates

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell encouraged students to consider a career in public service and stressed the importance of taking risks and showing initiative while speaking to Princeton University’s graduating class of 2025 on Sunday.

“The combination of luck, the courage to make mistakes and a little initiative can lead to much success,” Powell said at the Baccalaureate Ceremony in Princeton, New Jersey. “But know this: the world needs more from you than personal achievements and individual success. I strongly urge you to find time in your careers for public service.”

Powell, who has served as the 16th chair of the Federal Reserve since 2018, spoke candidly to graduating students about his time at his alma mater — from which he graduated in 1975.

The American investment banker and lawyer, who grew up in Washington D.C. and majored in politics at Princeton, said he focused more on playing guitar than studying during his freshman year at the university. Although his grades improved by his senior year, he graduated from the private Ivy League university without a plan. 

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“For those of you who are fundamentally unsure about your path, I was you,” Powell said.

In the months following graduation – and as his classmates and friends went on to work on Wall Street or study at graduate schools – Powell put labels on shelves in a warehouse. However, by the next fall, he entered law school ready to make the most of the opportunity, he said. 

“We all move at our own pace, and that’s OK,” Powell said.

Acknowledging that everyone is a work in progress, Powell called on students to continue to learn and focus on self-improvement throughout their lives. But while hard work, determination and creativity are important, he recognized that luck has also played a role in his success. 

“I got really lucky — beginning at birth,” he said.

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The Fed Chair urged the graduating class to take risks, and acknowledged that many of them may one day be asked to take on leadership roles in their careers. When that time comes, he said, it is normal to not feel ready — a sentiment he once felt himself.

“Just know that almost no one is truly ready,” Powell said. “All I can say is go for it!… Be the leader that people can learn from, the one that people want to work for.”

Additionally, Powell said some of the most pivotal moments in his life can be traced back to moments where he took initiative – which he called the “rocket fuel of life.” 

Powell spoke about a time when he was a junior associate and worked up the courage to introduce himself to Nicholas F. Brady — the man who ran his firm. Down the line, Brady became the Secretary of the United States Treasury and asked Powell to serve under him as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury – a role Powell called a “gateway” to his appointment to the Federal Reserve Board. 

“If I had not forced myself to take that risky and potentially awkward step, I would not be here today,” Powell said.

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The Fed Chair also urged students to find time in their careers for public service and to consider how they can continue to build upon prior generations in their efforts to preserve and strengthen American democracy. 

“As you navigate the world of bright possibilities that awaits you, I urge you to take on the challenge and the opportunity to serve your fellow citizens,” he said. “You will never regret that choice.”

Powell spoke about challenges at the Federal Reserve, and how amid the COVID-19 pandemic, career civil servants stepped up to take a range of measures to support the economy, he said.

“Their collective efforts saved our economy, and the career civil servants involved deserve our respect and gratitude; it is my great honor to serve alongside them,” he said. “That’s what public service is like.”

Powell concluded his remarks by reminding students that their lives are important and encouraging them to live with integrity.

“Fifty years from now, you will want to be able to look in the mirror and know that you did what you thought was right, in every part of your life,” Powell said.