Emerson Electric CEO to lead St. Louis Federal Reserve board of directors

ST. LOUIS — The leader of one of the region’s largest publicly traded companies has been tapped to chair the panel that oversees the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Effective this month, Lal Karsanbhai, president and CEO of Emerson Electric Co., is the new chair of the St. Louis Fed Board of Directors, according to a news release. He had been the deputy chair.

Appointed to the role by the Fed’s Board of Governors, Karsanbhai will serve as chair until his term expires at the end of 2027. He replaces Carolyn Chism Hardy, the CEO of Chism Hardy Investments, of Memphis, in the position.

The Fed governors also named Nina Leigh Krueger, the CEO and president of Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. in St. Louis, to the board of directors.

Gregory A. Heckman, CEO of Bunge in St. Louis, will become the deputy chair.

The nine-member board of directors is made up of members from three “classes.” Karsanbhai, Krueger and Heckman were appointed by the Board of Governors “to represent the public with consideration to the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labor and consumers,” according to the news release.

The news release said members of the board of directors are familiar with regional economic and credit conditions and that their observations and data from the St. Louis Fed "help ensure that conditions of Main Street America are represented" in deliberations of the Federal Open Market Committee.

View life in St. Louis the week of Dec. 21, 2025

Post-Dispatch photographers capture hundreds of images each week; here's a glimpse at the week of Dec. 21, 2025. Video edited by Jenna Jones.

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