Donald Winn, 66; Federal Reserve’s Chief Congressional Liaison

Donald Winn, 66, chief congressional liaison for the Federal Reserve Board and a top advisor to board chairman Alan Greenspan, died Thursday in Washington, D.C., of pancreatic cancer.

Winn, a native of Woonsocket, R.I., was a Jesuit seminarian for 12 years, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in philosophy from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree in divinity and a licentiate in philosophy at Weston College. He also taught philosophy and logic at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass.

Foregoing ordination in 1968, he moved to Washington and earned a law degree at Georgetown University while working on Capitol Hill. In 1974, he joined the Federal Reserve in the congressional liaison office, and became director in 1980.

During his nearly 30-year tenure, Winn served under four chairmen, and was known by members of Congress for his credibility and fast delivery of information.

He helped enact major legislation affecting banking, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, which in effect removed barriers between commercial and investment banking that had been in place since the Depression.