Raphael Bostic Tapped to Head Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank

ATLANTA — (AP) Raphael W. Bostic, a former Obama administration housing official, has been selected as the new president of Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, becoming the first African-American to head one of the Fed’s 12 regional banks.

The Atlanta Fed says that Bostic, 50, currently a professor of public policy at the University of Southern California, will take over in June. He succeeds Dennis Lockhart, who retired last month.

During the Obama administration, Bostic served from 2009 to 2012 as an assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Atlanta Fed covers Georgia, Alabama, Florida and portions of Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Fed Up, a coalition that has been pushing for more diversity among Fed policymakers, hailed the selection of Bostic as an “exceptionally qualified economist.”

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. (photo: US Department of Housing and Urban Development)

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