Allan Landon, the unflappable and unpretentious former head of the state’s second-largest bank, often said that boring was good for financial results.

He successfully led Bank of Hawaii during the time of a nationwide financial crisis that caused many institutions to fail and others to borrow money from the federal government.

"(Earnings reports) should be predictable with no excitement," said Landon, who was chairman, president and chief executive officer of Bank of Hawaii from 2004 to 2010.

Now, more than four years after his Bank of Hawaii retirement, Landon is being summoned for another challenge. On Tuesday, President Barack Obama said he will nominate Landon, 65, to a seat on the seven-member Federal Reserve Board. If approved by the Senate, he would become the first banking executive from Hawaii to ever serve on the prestigious committee.

"Allan Landon has the proven experience, judgment and deep knowledge of the financial system to serve at the Federal Reserve during this important time for our economy," Obama said in announcing the nomination. "He brings decades of leadership and expertise from various roles, particularly as a community banker. I’m confident that he will serve our country well."

Landon’s position on the influential board would cap a career that spans more than four decades. The Fed, which is led by Chairwoman Janet Yellen, is responsible for making key decisions involving interest rates. It was Fed policymakers who decided during the recession to lower interest rates and purchase billions of dollars in bonds to stimulate the economy and make home buying and other borrowing more affordable.

Landon’s nomination comes at a time when the Fed is near a turning point regarding monetary policy and is contemplating raising rates for the first time since 2006. The Fed has had two vacancies since the departure of governors Sarah Bloom Raskin in March and Jeremy Stein in May. The Fed also is under pressure to have a community banker as one of its members. The Fed hasn’t had someone in that capacity since Elizabeth Duke, a former executive at a Virginia community bank, retired in August 2013.

"Al is a very smart, public-spirited and highly ethical individual," said Citi­group Chairman and former Bankoh CEO Michael O’Neill, who chose Landon — then the president and chief operating officer — to be his successor when he left Bank of Hawaii in September 2004. "He’s a very hard worker and has a valuable perspective to offer. He is an excellent choice."

Before joining Bank of Hawaii in 2000, Landon had been a certified public accountant and partner with Ernst & Young and served for 28 years in several Midwest and Eastern offices.

Peter Ho, who succeeded Landon as chairman, president and CEO, called Landon’s nomination "a terrific honor."

"He is an outstanding leader and possesses a keen intellect and understanding of the community banking system," Ho said. "During his tenure at Bank of Hawaii, Al navigated the organization deftly through the financial crisis. All of us here at Bank of Hawaii are proud of his nomination and are glad to see him expand his reach outside of Hawaii similarly to how his predecessor, Mike O’Neill, did in becoming current chairman of Citi­group. He should make an outstanding addition to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors."

Under Landon’s leadership, Bank of Hawaii was named the Best Bank in America by Forbes Magazine in 2009 and 2010. He watched the bank grow from $9.59 billion in assets as of Sept. 30, 2004, to $12.86 billion shortly before he left on July 30, 2010. Today the bank has $14.5 billion in assets, according to its third-quarter report. During Landon’s tenure as CEO, he also grew the bank’s net income from $173.3 million at the end of 2004 to $183.9 million at the end of 2010.

Landon, when reached by phone at his home in Park City, Utah, said he was under instructions from the White House not to comment during the early stages of the nomination process.

But Frank Reppenhagen, his business partner in Community BanCapital, a Portland, Ore.-based community bank investment fund, said Landon has the insight and expertise in community banks to be a valuable addition to the Fed.

"He’s humbled and excited," Reppenhagen said in describing Landon’s feelings about the nomination. "He’s obviously been successful in a 40-year-plus career in finance, and he’s at a point now where he wants to give back to the system that has given back to him. That’s an important reason for taking this job. He sees it as a capstone opportunity to bring the community bank perspective to the Fed."

Reppenhagen said he and Landon met in 2011 and are members of a general partnership that raised $50 million for a community bank investment fund.

"We make investments in banks that are between $500 million and $2 billion in assets and that are strong corporate citizens in their communities," Reppenhagen said. "We’ve made eight investments all around the country from Spokane, Wash., to Tampa, Fla., and spoken with hundreds of banks throughout the last three years. That really gives Al a unique perspective on what the community banks need from their regulators."

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said Landon will be able to broaden the scope of the makeup of the Fed. Currently, three of the five Fed governors, including Yellen, are economists. One, Daniel Tarullo, is a lawyer, and another, Jerome Powell, is a former private-equity executive, though he also holds a law degree.

"The Federal Reserve is responsible for regulating nearly every aspect of our banking industry, and it is critical that its members reflect the diversity in the industry," Schatz said. "Drawing on his experience at Bank of Hawaii, Mr. Landon will bring an essential community banking perspective to the board. This perspective will be very important for states like Hawaii that depend on a vibrant sector of community banks to serve their banking needs."

Landon, who would have to move to Washington, D.C., and remove himself from obligations and investments that might create a conflict, likely will have to wait several months to see whether his nomination is accepted. First, the Senate banking committee will hold a hearing involving Landon’s qualifications and background, and then the committee would have to recommend him to the full Senate, which would have to confirm his appointment. Reppenhagen said he was interviewed about Landon by the FBI as part of the vetting process.

"I think he’s honored to be even nominated, and, as a person, Al has just the highest integrity," Reppenhagen said. "He’s totally unpretentious, thoughtful, smart, data-driven. He’ll make a very good candidate, and I think Al is looking forward to being nominated for such a prominent position. I hope that the confirmation hearing goes well."

The full term for Fed governors, not including the chairman and vice chairman, is 14 years, but that length often is not served.

Landon was making an annual base salary of $750,000 when he retired from Bankoh. In his final year at the bank, he received $2.2 million, including a $1.1 million bonus, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2009, his last full year there, he had total compensation of $1.4 million.

His financial take as a member of the Fed will be considerably less. Congress, which sets the annual salaries of Fed board members, allocates $201,700 for the chairman and $181,500 for the other board members.

When Landon retired from Bank of Hawaii, he sold his Kahala home and moved with his wife, Sue, to Park City to be closer to family. They have two married children and five grandchildren. Besides his involvement with Community BanCapital, he has kept busy as a director of State Farm Mutual Insurance Co. and State Farm Bank, both based in Bloomington, Ill., and as an adjunct professor at the University of Utah and University of Hawaii.

Interestingly, Bank of Hawaii also has ties to Obama’s family. The president’s grandmother Madelyn Dunham rose from clerk to vice president at the bank in the span of a decade, one of two women to reach that position at Bankoh in 1970. Dunham, who died in November 2008, left Obama stock that he sold in 2009 for about $500,000, financial disclosure statements show.