University of Southern California professor Raphael Bostic was appointed Monday to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, becoming the first African-American president of one of the 12 Federal Reserve regional banks, writes the Los Angeles Times.
From Los Angeles Times:
The choice of Bostic, director of the Bedrosian Center on Governance at USC’s Sol Price School of Public Policy, comes after members of Congress and advocacy groups have sharply criticized the central bank for a lack of diversity. They had pushed for a diverse choice to head the Atlanta region, in part because it has a large African American population.
“It’s not lost on me that I …am the first African American to lead a Federal Reserve institution,” he [Bostic] said in a short video released by the Atlanta Fed. “It’s kind of daunting. It’s an overwhelming thought. It’s a tremendous privilege. I look forward to this being a stepping stone for many others to have this opportunity as well.”
…The job involves overseeing about 1,700 employees in the Atlanta region — Alabama, Florida, Georgia and parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee — and participating in monetary policy deliberations in Washington.
The appointment of Bostic, who is also an economist and a former housing policy official in the Obama administration, “shatters a 104-year-old racial barrier,” reports the New York Times.
Bostic is scheduled to join the Federal Reserve on June 5.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, New York Times
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