Patrick T. Harker

Patrick Timothy Harker
Born	(1958-11-19) November 19, 1958 Gloucester City, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Economist, university administrator
Years active	1983–present
Known for	President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia; President of the University of Delaware; Dean of the Wharton School

Patrick Timothy Harker (born November 19, 1958) currently serves as the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Prior to this role, he was President of the University of Delaware and held the position of dean at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania from 2001 until 2007. His tenure as University of Delaware president began in 2007 and concluded with his resignation in 2015.

Early life and career

Raised in Gloucester City, New Jersey, Harker completed his education at St. Mary's School in 1973. He was recognized as a scholar-athlete during his time at Gloucester Catholic High School. Before obtaining his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1983, he gained experience working as a consulting engineer in both Philadelphia and New York City. He also served on the faculty of the University of California, Santa Barbara between 1983 and 1984.

In 1986, Harker received the Presidential Young Investigator award from the National Science Foundation. Later, in 1991, he was appointed a White House Fellow under President George H.W. Bush. During this fellowship, he acted as Special Assistant to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1991 to 1992.

University of Pennsylvania

Harker became part of the faculty at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1984. Between 1994 and 1996, he held the roles of professor and Chair for the Systems Engineering Department within Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.

He chaired Wharton’s Operations and Information Management Department before being named dean of the Wharton School and Reliance Professor of Management and Private Enterprise in 2000. Additionally, Harker was a senior fellow at Wharton's Financial Institutions Center and held a secondary professorship in Electrical and Systems Engineering. He also directed the Fishman-Davidson Center for the Study of the Service Sector. Notably, in 1991, he became Wharton’s youngest faculty member to receive an endowed chair as UPS Transportation Professor of the Private Sector. From 1996 to 1999, he served as editor-in-chief for the journal Operations Research.

During his tenure at Penn, Harker supervised eighteen doctoral candidates and four master's students. He also led or co-led sixteen research projects that secured over $11 million in funding.

University of Delaware

On December 1, 2006, Harker was appointed as the 26th President of the University of Delaware, officially assuming office on July 1, 2007.

In May 2008, he introduced UD’s strategic initiative titled Path to Prominence, which emphasized educational excellence, environmental stewardship, global outreach, and community engagement. He founded several research centers along with an Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships aimed at fostering invention, entrepreneurship, and translating UD research into commercial ventures. To establish Delaware as a center for health sciences, UD collaborated with local healthcare providers through the Delaware Health Sciences Alliance.

Under Harker’s administration, UD acquired a 272-acre tract adjacent to its Newark campus to develop the Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus. This facility focuses on advancing innovation in health sciences, cybersecurity, and alternative energy sectors. The campus includes UD's Health Sciences Complex, Bloom Energy's East Coast fuel cell manufacturing facility, and hosts the eV2g initiative integrating electric vehicles with power grids.

Significant infrastructure projects during his presidency encompassed construction of the 194,000-square-foot Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Laboratory (ISE Lab), later named in his honor; new student residence halls; a centrally located University Bookstore; and enhancements to athletic venues such as expansions to the Bob Carpenter Center.

In recognition of his impact on innovation and economic growth, Harker was inducted as a charter fellow into the National Academy of Inventors in 2012. That same year, he earned the INFORMS Fellows Award for lifetime accomplishments in operations research and management sciences.

Harker has contributed opinion pieces to prominent publications including The New York Times and The Chronicle of Higher Education, with notable commentary on higher education economics published in Service Science in 2014.

Before assuming leadership at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, he served as a Class B director and participated on the Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council. His governance roles have included board memberships with Christiana Care Health Systems, Pepco Holdings, Huntsman Corp., The Minerva Project among others. He has also engaged with regional economic development efforts such as the Council on Competitiveness and Greater Philadelphia Chamber’s CEO Council for Growth.

Harker's remuneration totaled $810,603 for fiscal year 2008–2009; $726,307 for fiscal year 2009–2010; and $728,329 for fiscal year 2010–2011.

Throughout his professional journey, Harker has authored multiple books alongside more than one hundred articles, chapters, and reports.

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

On March 2, 2015, Harker assumed the role of the 11th president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Prior to this appointment, he was a nonbanking Class B director at the Philadelphia Fed for three years, taking over from Charles Plosser, who stepped down on March 1, 2015.