Dr. Lisa D. Cook
January 14, 2021 – Historic Nomination of African American Woman to Federal Reserve Board.
President Joe Biden has nominated economist Lisa D. Cook to serve on the Board of Governors of Federal Reserve Board and if confirmed will be the first African American woman in its 108-year history to sit on this board that sets Economic policy for the United States to maintain economic stability.
Dr. Cook is a Professor of Economics and International Relations at Michigan State University and was also the first Marshall Scholar from Spelman College. She holds a second B.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University. Dr. Cook, earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley with concentrations in macroeconomics and international economics, and has spent time as Deputy Director for Africa Research at the Center for International Development at Harvard University, and a is National Fellow at Stanford University. She taught and created more than ten economic academic courses at Michigan State University and served as a Senior Economist in the Obama Administration’s Council of Economic Advisers.
Despite Dr. Cook’s significant academic and professional accomplishments, there are some members of Congress who question her credentials due to her research in the area of economic race and gender inequalities in the labor market. Other members of Congress believe that her extensive research in this area would bring a needed perspective as these wealth gaps exists even when the U.S. economy is strong. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/10/lisa-cook-federal-reserve-nomination-republican-vitriol/
With more than 30 years of work in this field, multiple publications and serving in critical roles for the Obama Administration, Dr. Lisa D. Cook is one of the most well-known and highly respected economists amongst her peers, in academia and by economic policy makers. Taking 108 years, this historic nomination of an African American woman was a long time coming, but it was earned due to her hard work an ability. We can only hope that her nomination will be fair and evaluate her ability to do the job at hand and contribute to the role of the Federal Reserve to provide economic stability. You can learn more about Dr. Cook here .