Richard F. Syron

Richard F. Syron "is adjunct professor of finance at Boston College. He was previously chairman and chief executive officer of Freddie Mac. From June 1999 to December 2003, Mr. Syron served as president, CEO, chairman and executive chairman of the board of Thermo Electron Corporation. During that time he led Thermo Electron’s restructuring from a disjointed corporation with approximately 26 publicly-traded companies in four different industries into a unified company focusing on high tech equipment and instruments for life sciences. Mr. Syron served as chairman and chief executive officer of the American Stock Exchange from 1994 to 1999. He is a former president of both the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston. He has been deputy assistant secretary of the United States Treasury, principal assistant to Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker, and has held several economic, research, policy and managerial positions in state and national government. Mr. Syron has served as lead director or director for a number of public companies, including John Hancock and McKesson Corporation.

"He brings to Genzyme’s board extensive financial expertise and knowledge of capital markets, having led the second largest source of mortgage financing in the United States. As president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, he played a major role in restructuring New England's banking system following the crises of the early 1990s.

"Mr. Syron earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Boston College and his master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from Tufts University."

• Director, Genzyme