Fed Board to get its first Black woman governor

Lisa DeNell Cook, of Michigan, nominated to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, speaks before a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. onFebruary 3, 2022. [Reuters]

Lisa Cook, an economics professor at Michigan State University known for her work on racial and gender inequality, on Tuesday won U.S. Senate confirmation to serve on the Federal Reserve Board, making her the first Black woman to serve on the Fed board in its 109-year history.

Cook will join the U.S. central bank as it faces a monumental challenge: reining in 40-year-high inflation that is straining household budgets and sapping U.S. President Joe Biden's approval ratings without undercutting a historically strong labor market or sending the world's largest economy into recession.