The Anthony T. Cluff Fund was named for the Roundtable's former Executive Director, Anthony T. Cluff. Cluff served as Executive Director of the Bankers Roundtable, now known as The Financial Services Roundtable, from 1980 to 1999, and to its predecessor association - The Association of Reserve City Bankers. He managed the administrative, legislative, regulatory and research affairs of the Roundtable, and initiated and directed the work of the Roundtable's standing committees and Board of Directors.

Before joining the Roundtable, Cluff received his PhD in Economics from The George Washington University in 1970 and served as an economist in the Office of Financial Analysis at the Department of Treasury before moving on to a position as an economist for the American Bankers Association. He then served as Director of Research for the Securities Industry Association and served as a professional staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. He oversaw the Roundtable's Banking Research Fund program , which sponsored research on banking and financial issues of interest to public policymakers and the general public. Dr. Cluff also conducted his own research and analyses of banking and financial issues of to interest to the Roundtable membership. The Banking Research Fund program was renamed the Anthony T. Cluff Fund.