Who is Lisa Cook, Fed’s first African-American woman governor and why Trump fired her?

US President Donald Trump fired Lisa Cook, the first African-American woman to serve as a Federal Reserve governor, over mortgage fraud.

Taking to his Truth Social account on Monday, Trump wrote, “I have determined that there is sufficient cause to remove you from your position.”

On August 20, the president urged Cook to resign following allegations by William Pulte, the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director appointed by Trump, that she falsely claimed two mortgages as her primary residences. The Department of Justice stated it was investigating the issue.

Amid all the allegations regarding mortgage fraud, here’s all you need to know about Lisa Cook — 

Before serving on the Federal Reserve Board, Cook taught economics and international relations at Michigan State University. Between 2018 and 2021, she directed the American Economic Association Summer Training Program. Additionally, she was a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Previously, Lisa 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.

From 2011 to 2012, Dr. Cook served as a senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama. From 2000 to 2001, she served as a senior adviser on finance and development in the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of International Affairs.

Dr. Cook received a BA in philosophy from Spelman College. 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.

Lisa D. Cook took office as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on May 23, 2022, to fill an unexpired term ending January 31, 2024. She was reappointed to the Board on September 8, 2023, and sworn in on September 13, 2023, for a term ending January 31, 2038.