A Fed governor since 2012 and former Treasury official under the George H.W. Bush administration, Powell will replace current Fed Chair Janet Yellen. Yellen was nominated in 2013 by President Obama. Her term as the central bank’s first female leader expires in February.

It will be the first time in four decades that a new president hasn’t asked the current Fed chair to stay on for a second term.

Powell was among five candidates considered for the job. Also on the president’s short list: former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, Stanford University economist John Taylor, the president’s top economic adviser, Gary Cohn and Yellen.