Thomas Siems is Chief Economist at the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) in Washington DC. Thomas joined CSBS in 2019 after serving 34 years as an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and more than 20 years teaching in the Lyle School of Engineering at Southern Methodist University.

Dr. Siems’ current research examines the impact of regulatory compliance costs on community banks and evaluates results from the CSBS quarterly Community Bank Sentiment Index (CBSI). Siems teaches Economics for Bankers at the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado and has published more than 75 articles in academic journals.

He delivered a TEDxSMU Talk titled The Wealth of Innovations and has authored five children’s picture books including The Dangerous Pet which poetically helps readers understand the dangers of debt.

Dr. Siems earned a BSE in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan and MS and PhD degrees in operations research from Southern Methodist University. More recently Siems was awarded the degree of Master of Biblical and Theological Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary and earned a Doctor of Ministry in Theology and Apologetics from Liberty University.