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Dr. Lisa D. Cook, the first African American woman named as a member of the Federal Reserve Board, will deliver the 2023 Ƶ Commencement Address at 9:30 a.m. on May 13th in Daniel “Chappie” James Hall.
Dr. Cook joined the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in May 2022. Prior to her appointment to the Board, she was a professor of economics and international relations at Michigan State University. She was also the director of the American Economic Association Summer Training Program at Michigan State University and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Previously, Governor Cook was on the faculty of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. During her time at Harvard, Dr. Cook also served as deputy director for Africa Research at the Center for International Development. Before then, she was a national fellow at Stanford University.
Governor Cook also served as a senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama from 2011 to 2012. From 2000 to 2001, she served as a senior adviser on finance and development in the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of International Affairs.
“Dr. Cook has set the kind of personal and professional example that we always aspire to share with our students,” said Dr. Charlotte P. Morris, Tuskegee President. “We look forward to hosting her and providing our graduates with the inspiration she will share as they begin such an important phase of their lives.”
“I am thrilled to join the students of Ƶ, as well as their families, their professors, and the entire Tuskegee community, as they mark this joyous and hard-earned milestone,” said Governor Lisa D. Cook. “Tuskegee has long given the world great minds and contributions, particularly in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and I look forward to seeing the innovation and invention the class of 2023 will contribute as they make their mark on and continue service to the world.”
Governor Cook received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from Spelman College where she was the first Marshall Scholar selected from Spelman and a Harry S. Truman Scholar. As a Marshall Scholar, she received a second BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University. She earned a PhD in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
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