Sławomir Stanisław Skrzypek (10 May 1963 – 10 April 2010) was the President of the National Bank of Poland

National Bank of Poland

Narodowy Bank Polski is the central bank of Poland. It controls the issuing of Poland's currency, the złoty. The Bank is headquartered in Warsaw, and has branches in every major Polish town...

 (NBP) from 2007 until his death in 2010. He died in the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash

2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash

The 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash occurred on 10 April 2010, when a Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft of the Polish Air Force crashed near the city of Smolensk, Russia, killing all 96 people on board...

, when a plane transporting a number of Polish notables, including the President of Poland Lech Kaczynski

Lech Kaczynski

Lech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...

, crashed enroute to a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Katyń massacre

Katyn massacre

The Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre , was a mass execution of Polish nationals carried out by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs , the Soviet secret police, in April and May 1940. The massacre was prompted by Lavrentiy Beria's proposal to execute all members of...

. Analysts have said that Skrzypek's death is unlikely to change the path of monetary policy

Monetary policy

Monetary policy is the process by which the monetary authority of a country controls the supply of money, often targeting a rate of interest for the purpose of promoting economic growth and stability. The official goals usually include relatively stable prices and low unemployment...

 in Poland.

Born in Katowice

Katowice

Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...

, Skrzypek graduated from the Silesian University of Technology

Silesian University of Technology

Silesian University of Technology is a university located in Gliwice, Silesia, Poland. It was founded in 1945 by Polish professors of the Lwow Polytechnic, who were forced to leave their native city and move to the Recovered Territories .The Silesian University of Technology has 12...

 before taking an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

The University of Wisconsin–La Crosse is a public university located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA...

, further post-graduate degrees at Cracow University of Economics, the University of Silesia

University of Silesia

The University of Silesia in Katowice is an autonomous state university in Silesia Province, Poland.The University of Silesia should not be confused with a similarly named university in Opava, Czech Republic ....

, Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

 and at IESE Business School at the University of Navarra

University of Navarra

The University of Navarra is a private pontifical university based at the southeast border of Pamplona, Spain. It was founded in 1952 by St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, the founder of Opus Dei as a corporate work of the apostolate of Opus Dei....

. It was on 10 January 2007 that Skrzypek was appointed to the role of President of the NBP, with a vote of 239 Sejm deputies in favor, 202 against and one abstaining. He replaced Leszek Balcerowicz

Leszek Balcerowicz

Leszek Balcerowicz is a Polish economist, the former chairman of the National Bank of Poland and Deputy Prime Minister in Tadeusz Mazowiecki's government...

. His choice by President Kaczynski was controversial; opposition parties and others criticised his comparative lack of experience.

Prior to this position, he had been acting President of the managing board of PKO BP, Poland's largest bank. He had also held positions in the Supreme Chamber of Control (NIK), serving as Deputy President of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and working at Polish State Railways

Polish State Railways

is the dominant railway operator in Poland.The company was founded when the former state-owned operator was divided into several units based on the requirements laid down by the European Union...

 (PKP). He acted as a deputy to the Mayor of Warsaw between 2002 and 2005, responsible, inter alia

Inter Alia

-Track listing:# Inter Alia# Outfox'd # Righteous Badass # The Altogether feat. Bix, Apt, UNIVERSE ARM and Cal# The Day-to-Daily# Trouble Brewing # The Prestidigitator# The Force...

, for "financial policy, investment projects and corporate governance". From May 2000 to June 2001, he was a member of a group of advisors at one division of PZU, a Polish insurance company.

Piotr Wiesiolek was named as Skrzypek's acting successor, though Skrzypek's sudden death on the 10 April 2010 may still cause short term problems for the bank; permanent Presidents of the Bank are usually nominated by Presidents of Poland, but Lech Kaczynski also died in the crash. After Skrzypek's death, the Wall Street Journal reported how the management committee of the central bank had recently "come into open conflict with six members of the Council [of Ministers] after a council majority voted to change the rules dictating how the bank's net profit was calculated".

On 16 April 2010, Skrzypek was posthumously awarded the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta.