Isabel Schnabel

Prof. Dr. Isabel Schnabel is a Professor of Financial Economics at the University of Bonn (currently on leave) and a Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB) since 2020. She holds affiliations with the Institute of Finance & Statistics within the Department of Economics. Her research focuses on banking stability, international finance, economic history, and financial law. She has held academic positions at the Universities of Mainz and Mannheim, and served on the German Council of Economic Experts (2014–2019). Schnabel’s career includes roles at the Max Planck Institute and Harvard University.

Education includes a PhD in Economics from the University of Mannheim (2003) and a Diplom in Economics from the same institution (1998). She studied at Mannheim, Paris I (Sorbonne), and UC Berkeley. Professional activities include leadership roles in the ECB, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE, and the European Association for Banking and Financial History.

Her research publications address systemic risk, financial crises, and central banking policies. Awards include the CEPR Prize for Service to Economic Policymaking (2024) and the Stolper Prize (2018). She has advised on policy reforms for the euro area and contributed to debates on banking union, deposit insurance, and climate-related inflation.