Investing.com — St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard announced Thursday stepped down from the bank on Aug. 14 to become the inaugural dean of the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business at Purdue University. 

St. Louis bank’s chief operating officer, Kathleen O’Neill Paese has taken up the duties of interim president and CEO. 

Bullard, a non-voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the rate-setting arm of the Fed, has “recused himself from his monetary policy role on the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee and other related duties and has ceased all public speaking,” according to the statement. 

“It has been both a privilege and an honor to be part of the St. Louis Fed for the last 33 years, including serving as its president for the last 15 years,” Bullard said.

Bullard will remain available to the bank’s leadership in an advisory capacity until Aug. 14 to help ensure a smooth transition. The bank will hire a “national executive search firm” to assist in the search for a replacement.

The announcement comes just ahead of the Fed’s two-day meeting on July 25-26.