First FOMC Meeting as Cleveland Fed President

On May 18, 1982, Karen N. Horn attended her first meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in her new capacity as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. The FOMC is the body within the Federal Reserve System responsible for overseeing the nation's open market operations and setting the course of U.S. monetary policy.

At this meeting, Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker formally acknowledged Horn's presence, remarking on the women now 'gracing' the table—a notable and symbolically important moment, as the FOMC had for decades been an almost entirely male institution. Horn's appearance at the table, alongside a small number of other women beginning to enter senior Federal Reserve roles in this era, marked a significant, if incremental, shift toward gender diversity in the highest circles of American monetary policymaking.

Her participation in FOMC deliberations gave her a direct voice in decisions affecting interest rates, inflation control, and the broader trajectory of the U.S. economy during a critical period marked by the aftermath of severe inflation and the Federal Reserve's ongoing disinflationary policies under Volcker.

This moment has since been highlighted by financial historians, including in the Federal Reserve's own FRASER archive project, as an emblematic milestone in the history of women's inclusion in central banking leadership.