At the 2021 Museum of American Finance Gala on February 22 , the Museum honored Roger W . Ferguson , Jr . with the Whitehead Award for Distinguished Public Service and Financial Leadership , Brian Moynihan with the Schwab Award for Financial Innovation and Richard Sylla with a Special Recognition of Service Award for his 30 years of service to the Museum , including a decade as its chairman . Excerpts from the remarks delivered that evening are published below .

ROGER W . FERGUSON , JR . President and CEO , TIAA

It ’ s an honor to be recognized by an organization charged with preserving such a significant part of American history , and also with promoting financial literacy , which is a passion of mine . Equally importantly , it ’ s an honor to receive an award created to memorialize John Whitehead . As many of you know , John was a longtime leader in public service and in the world of finance , including as the founding chairman of the 9-11 Memorial and Museum and also as the co-chairman of the advisory board of this fine institution . John also served as the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Harvard Board of Overseers . These are two organizations that have meant so much in my life , so I have that connection directly with John .

Although I am a Washington , DC native , I ’ ve spent so much of my career and so many of my days in New York . My work life has always revolved around the financial markets and the financial services industry , both in the private sector and in public service . I started my career right here in New York , advising financial firms as a lawyer at the Wall Street firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell . Although I quickly decided that law was really not the path for me , I still consider it the best job I ever had . That ’ s because it ’ s where I met my wife , Annette Nazareth , without whom I would not be speaking with you today .

I ’ ve been very fortunate in my career , in ways I could never have imagined when I was just a nerdy little kid talking about interest rates with my father around the kitchen table . For one thing , I eventually got to get to my teenage dream job , which was serving as a Federal Reserve governor . I know you ’ re probably thinking that ’ s a little unusual for a teenager to have that as an aspiration . Some kids could recite batting orders ; I could recite the names of the FOMC members from 1968 . It was a privilege to be a public servant at the Federal Reserve , working with a ferociously dedicated team to protect the US monetary and financial systems . And never was that more true and more important than on 9-11 , one of the nation ’ s darkest days .

After the Fed and for the past 12 years , I had the great fortune to lead TIAA . We are a mission-driven company with deep New York City roots . Let me tell you just a bit of history about our company . TIAA was founded in 1918 , and it was the vision of Andrew Carnegie . Carnegie wanted to help solve one of the big social challenges of his day , which was enabling teachers and higher ed employees to retire with financial dignity and security . Today , our company , TIAA , serves the entire notfor-profit sector , notably the healthcare industry that has been so challenged in these times , as well as higher ed , which has also gone through its own rapid and seismic evolution to adapt to current circumstances .

I ’ ve always come to work every day inspired by our clients — millions of people and thousands of institutions — who are making a difference in the world , and who have dedicated themselves to others . Our view , and let me quote one of our leaders here and one of my predecessors : “ A corporation can only continue to be a profitable investment for its stockholders if it discharges its obligations to society .” That statement that I just quoted first appeared in a 1971 op-ed in The New York Times , written by my predecessor , the iconic TIAA CEO of his day , William Greenough . So , I ’ m therefore really proud of the deep roots that we at TIAA have in stakeholder capitalism , because companies have an important part to play in making the world a more just and equitable place .

Certainly , throughout the challenges of the past year , businesses served as a force for positive change . Just think about what we ’ ve seen from businesses : accelerated vaccine research , quickly pivoting to get employees working remotely and making commitments to end racism . Private enterprise has

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