BY DAMIAN PALETTA, SUDEEP REDDY AND JON HILSENRATH

President Barack Obama plans to nominate Janet Yellen as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, a person familiar with the matter said.

Ms. Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco since 2004, has been a strong supporter of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s policies to fight the deep economic downturn.

One of the more dovish policy makers among the Fed’s 12 regional bank presidents, Ms. Yellen has been a key advocate of the Fed’s policy of near-zero interest rates and a massive expansion of the central bank’s balance sheet, even as some regional Fed officials advocate for …