Truman Medal for Economic Policy
2026 Recipient Sheila C. Bair
“THE GROWING RISK OF ANOTHER FINANCIAL CRISIS”
Thursday, October 15, 2026
6:00 p.m. Reception | 6:30 p.m. Award Ceremony
Live from the Truman Forum, Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch
4810 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri
Join us in person or online for an illuminating evening with former FDIC Chair Sheila C. Bair as she receives the 2026 Truman Medal for Economic Policy.
Renowned for protecting “Main Street” during the 2008 financial crisis, Ms. Bair championed accountability for “too big to fail” institutions and earned the JFK Library’s Profiles in Courage Award. She was twice named by Forbes as the second most powerful woman in the world. Time called her the “little guy’s protector in chief.” Now, Ms. Bair will examine the buildup of financial risks and regulatory changes that preceded the 2008 financial crisis—and their parallels today.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear directly from and ask questions of one of our nation’s leading experts on financial policy. Sheila Bair will explore how periods of rapid growth and abundant credit can amplify leverage, risk and speculation; how vulnerabilities accumulate across the financial system; and what new risks may emerge from the rapid growth of private credit, a largely nonbank source of corporate lending. Growing concerns about the U.S. Treasury market will also come into focus.
Drawing on her experience at the center of the 2008 crisis, the discussion will offer a clear-eyed look at where today’s financial system may be vulnerable—and what we might do differently this time.
A respected voice on financial policy issues, Sheila Bair is a frequent op-ed contributor for the Financial Times and other publications. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Bull by the Horns, her memoir of the financial crisis, and its companion for teens, Bullies of Wall Street; the award-winning Money Tales books for children; and How Not to Lose a Million Dollars for teens.
Established in 2005, the Truman Medal is awarded biennially to an individual who has made extraordinary contributions to the nation’s economic policy. The award highlights Truman’s enduring impact on global economic governance and his creation of the Council of Economic Advisers, a nonpartisan group dedicated to informing presidential decision-making.
This signature event is free and open to the public; registration is required.
2026 Sponsors
Program Partners
The Economic Club of Kansas City
Henry W. Bloch School of Management
Past Recipients
2005 Alan Greenspan, Former Federal Reserve Chair
2007 George P. Shultz, Former U.S. Secretary of State
2009 Paul A. Volcker, Former Chair, Federal Reserve Board of Governors
2011 Allan H. Meltzer, Former Fellow, The Hoover Institution
2013 Alice M. Rivlin, Former Founding Director of the Congressional Budget Office
2015 John B. Taylor, Former Fellow in Economics, The Hoover Institution
2017 Robert J. Shiller, Nobel Prize-winning Economist
2019 Janet L. Yellen, Former Federal Reserve Chair / U.S. Secretary of Treasury
2022 Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., Former Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board
2024 Thomas Hoenig, Former Federal Reserve Chair of Kansas City
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