Senate confirms former MSU professor for additional term on Federal Reserve Board

Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, will serve an additional, full term after she was confirmed to fill an unexpired term on the board in 2022. 

Cook took office on May 23, 2022, to fill a term ending on Jan. 31, 2024. President Joe Biden nominated her for an additional term on May 12, 2023. Her nomination was approved by the Senate Banking Committee on July 12 before her confirmation on Wednesday, which U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) and Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Twp.) touted in a news release. 

A full term on the board is 14 years.  

Prior to her appointment to the board, Cook was a professor of economics and international relations at Michigan State University as well as a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She was previously on the faculty for Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and served as deputy director for Africa Research at the Center for International Development. She was also a national fellow at Stanford University.

Cook served as a senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisers under former President Barack Obama from 2011 to 2012. She also served as a senior adviser on finance and development in the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of International Affairs from 2000 to 2001. 

“Dr. Cook’s time on the Board has proven she provides invaluable insight as our economy rebuilds and we grow the middle class. I’m so proud to see one of Michigan’s best at the Federal Reserve — I know she’ll continue to do an amazing job,” Stabenow said in a statement.