Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) today announced Chief Economist John Silvia will retire as head of the Economics Group at Wells Fargo Securities after 16 years with the company.

Silvia, who is based in Charlotte, will remain with the company through July 31. He has held the position of chief economist since he joined Wachovia in 2002.

Under Silvia’s thought leadership, Wells Fargo’s Economics Group has received many awards and accolades, including nine awards from the National Association for Business Economics, an organization he served as president from 2014 to 2015. In addition, he has served as the voice of the Wells Fargo Economics Group with numerous appearances in print, radio and television including CNBC, CNN, BNN, Fox Business News, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and other publications.

“We celebrate John’s accomplishments, and we are thankful for his leadership during his time as the chief economist of the Wells Fargo Securities Economics Group. John is a strong leader who has always encouraged his team to push their boundaries of thought. He supported each team member to reach his or her full potential,” said Diane Schumaker-Krieg, global head of Research, Economics and Strategy for Wells Fargo Securities.

Most recently, Silvia received a Certificate of Forecasting Excellence by The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago for “Best Ten-Year Treasury Rate Forecast” for 2017. He is also on the Bloomberg Best Forecast list for his forecasts of GDP, ISM manufacturing index, housing starts and the unemployment rate. Under Silvia’s direction, in six of the past eight years, the Wells Fargo Economics Group has had a paper accepted by the American Economic Association, a nonprofit academic association known for its dedication to disseminating acclaimed economics research.

“It has been a great honor to serve as chief economist of a bank I truly believe in. I am proud of the work we’ve done as a team and thankful Wells Fargo has allowed me to lead such a dynamic group of economists who are dedicated to economic debate and discipline,” said Silvia.

Silvia holds B.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Northeastern University and has a master’s degree in economics from Brown University.

Wells Fargo Securities Global Economist Jay Bryson will serve as interim chief economist at Wells Fargo. Bryson, who is based in Charlotte, joined the company in 1998. Previously he was an economist in the division of international finance at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. He also served in the economics departments of the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, the University of Alabama, Georgetown University and the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Bryson is a member of the American Economic Association and the Charlotte Economics Club. He is also a member of the National Association for Business Economics and served on its board of directors from 2010 to 2013. Bryson received his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill.

About Wells Fargo Securities

Wells Fargo Securities delivers a comprehensive set of capital markets and advisory products and services, including public debt and equity origination and distribution, investment research, interest rate, commodity and equity risk hedging, mergers and acquisitions advice, prime services, structured lending facilities, foreign exchange services, and municipal bond origination. Wells Fargo Securities consists of nearly 5,000 team members in more than 40 offices across North America, Europe and Asia.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through 8,200 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 265,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune’s 2017 rankings of America’s largest corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.