She previously served as the tenth chief executive of the Fourth District Federal Reserve Bank, at Cleveland from 2003 to 2014.
Pianalto also received an honorary doctor of business administration degree from Cleveland State University.
Before joining the Bank, Ms. Pianalto was an economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and served on the staff of the Budget Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
She serves on the boards of directors of many community organizations, including The Cleveland Foundation, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, University Hospitals Health System, United Way Services of Cleveland, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education, the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Foundation, and the Ohio Business Alliance for Higher Education and the Economy.
On August 8, 2013, Pianalto announced she would retire as Cleveland's Fed President "early next year.".