Frederick Deming

Frederick L. Deming, an undersecretary of the Treasury in the Johnson administration and a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, died Aug. 21 in Fort Myers, Fla. He was 90.

Dr. Deming, who had been a banker in the Federal Reserve system, was appointed undersecretary of the Treasury for monetary affairs in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Dr. Deming would hold this position until 1969, when he left to become a partner at Lazard Freres & Co.

Dr. Deming joined the Treasury at a time when the traditional role of the United States as the linchpin of the global economy was beginning to change in line with the postwar maturation of the economies of Western Europe and Japan.

As the administration ' s point man on matters of international finance, Dr. Deming played a leading role in developing the special drawing right, better known as the SDR, as an alternative to the dollar and gold as an international reserve currency to finance global trade.

The concept of the unit was introduced in 1967 as the centerpiece of a broad monetary accord that Dr. Deming helped formulate between the United States and the developed nations of the time. Henry H. Fowler, the Treasury secretary at the time, called the signed agreement " one of the great days in the history of financial cooperation. "

While the currency unit ' s role as a reserve currency is now limited, it still serves as the primary unit of exchange for member countries of the International Monetary Fund.

After a short stint as a banker in New York he returned to Minneapolis in 1972.