Michigan State University economist and professor Lisa D. Cook today was nominated by President Joe Biden to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. If confirmed, Cook will be the first Black woman to serve on the board in its 108-year history.

The Federal Reserve System consists of the Federal Reserve Bank, which is the central bank of the United States, and 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks. With the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, they conduct the nation’s monetary policy with the purpose of maintaining stability in the nation’s financial system.

“I am grateful to President Biden for nominating me to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System," Cook said. "If confirmed, I would be honored to serve."

Cook is a professor in the Department of Economics in MSU’s College of Social Science and a professor of international relations in James Madison College. Notably, the first Black man to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors was Andrew F. Brimmer who also was an assistant professor at MSU’s Department of Economics from 1958 to 1961.

“Lisa Cook is a remarkable economist and leader who will serve our nation well,” said MSU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D. “Her nomination embodies the excellence of our Spartan faculty as she is well on her way to shatter another glass ceiling as the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.”

Read full story at MSU Today.