Morehouse College announces new president
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
The Morehouse College Board of Trustees has named renowned public health leader and alumnus Dr. F. DuBois Bowman to the position.
This comes after a national search for the school's leader.
Bowman graduated from Morehouse in 1992.
'Returning to Morehouse as its 13th president is the honor of a lifetime,' said Bowman. 'This institution shaped who I am—instilling a commitment to excellence, justice, and impact. I am excited to partner with faculty, staff, students, alumni, and supporters to build on our legacy and write the next chapter of Morehouse's transformative story.'
TRENDING STORIES:
Elderly Johns Creek woman tricked out of $47,000 while doing crossword puzzle
12-year-old nearly kidnapped from Cobb County bus stop, police say
Water shooting into the air after massive main break in DeKalb County
He currently serves as dean of the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
'Dr. Bowman's record of visionary leadership, his deep commitment to academic excellence, and his lifelong dedication to Morehouse make him the ideal choice to lead the College into its next era,' said Willie Woods '85, chairman of the Morehouse College Board of Trustees. 'He brings an extraordinary blend of intellectual rigor, strategic thinking, and values-driven leadership.'
School officials said his appointment follows a historic milestone for the college, which recently named both Research College & University (RCU) and Opportunity College & University (OCU) in the 2025 Carnegie Classifications.
Current Morehouse College President Dr. David A. Thomas announced his retirement last year. He will conclude his tenure in June.
Bowman will take over as president on July 15.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
One FOMC dissenter might have just called out the Fed for its shifting base interest-rate policy
FOMC member Michelle Bowman has urged consistency in interest rate policy, following questions about why the FOMC cut rates in late 2024 but is holding steady now despite similar levels of inflation and unemployment data. Citing sharp downward revisions to U.S. job growth, Bowman reiterated her forecast for three cuts this year while warning that declining data reliability complicates policymaking. Critics of Jerome Powell and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) have argued the group's shifting stance on when to cut the base rate has been anything but constant. They point to a cut in the base rate in December, when Powell and his peers decided to lower the base rate despite inflation being at 2.9%—higher than the inflation rate from March to June this year. Moreover, the unemployment rate was at a relatively similar level to current readings. Yet in 2025, and despite mounting pressure from the White House and economists to do so, Powell has thus far refused to ease interest rates. While every member of the FOMC is aware of this rhetoric, Michelle Bowman has been the most recent to flag the issue. 'In my view, it is … important that the committee's approach to monetary policy decision-making is consistent over time—especially when we face shifting economic conditions,' Bowman said this weekend in a speech at the Kansas Bankers Association 2025 CEO and Senior Management Summit, held in Colorado Springs. Bowman's statements are all the more interesting given that she was one of two dissenters from the Fed's recent decision on the base rate. While the FOMC decided to hold the rate at 4.25% to 4.5%, Bowman had indicated prior to the meeting that she would like to see that figure come down. Speaking in Colorado, she added: 'I recognize and appreciate that other FOMC members may see things differently and that they were more comfortable with leaving the target range for the policy rate unchanged. I am committed to working together with my colleagues to ensure that monetary policy is appropriately positioned to achieve our dual goals of maximum employment and price stability. 'In the meantime, I will continue to carefully monitor the incoming data and information as the administration's policies, the economy, and financial markets continue to evolve.' Questions about the motivations—and even the political nature—of the FOMC's decisions have come from influential voices in Washington, D.C. While Powell has long maintained that the Fed is not influenced by politics in any way, and has staunchly defended its independence from such influences, observers are still questioning, Why cut in 2024 but not now? For example, Trump's former commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, told Fortune last month: 'Powell didn't have any trouble reducing interest rates. It's only since Trump got in that he has been much more cautious.' He added: 'Whoever is in the Fed is, after all, a human being, and human beings have political preferences, they have economic preferences, so the word 'independent' doesn't necessarily mean that it will be just fact-based.' Trusting the data Bowman, who is the Fed's vice chair for supervision, also hinted that she (and potentially other members of the FOMC) may have lost some faith in key data releases which help inform decision-making. 'I have discussed many times in the past that, in recent years, the monthly labor market data have become increasingly difficult to interpret, in part reflecting declining survey response rates and the changing dynamics of immigration and net business creation,' Bowman said. 'It is crucial that U.S. official data accurately capture cyclical or structural changes in the labor market in real time so that we can more confidently rely on these data for monetary and economic policymaking.' The warning comes after a shocking report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which revealed the U.S. labor market is in far worse shape than previously believed. The Labor Department reported on Aug. 1 that payrolls grew by just 73,000 last month, well below forecasts for about 100,000. But downward revisions for prior months alarmed investors even more, revealing that the labor market came to a near standstill over the spring. May's tally was cut from 144,000 to 19,000, and June's total was slashed from 147,000 to just 14,000, resulting in a combined cut of 258,000. The average gain over the past three months is now only 35,000. Trump responded by firing Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the BLS, prompting questions about the Oval Office's influence over data departments. Bowman added: 'I remain cautious about taking too much signal from data releases, but I see the latest news on economic growth, the labor market, and inflation as consistent with greater risks to the employment side of our dual mandate. 'My summary of economic projections includes three cuts for this year, which has been consistent with my forecast since last December, and the latest labor market data reinforce my view. I want to reiterate, though, that monetary policy is not on a preset course. At each FOMC meeting, my colleagues and I will make our decisions based on each of our assessments of the incoming data and the implications for and risks to the outlook, guided by the Fed's dual-mandate goals of maximum employment and stable prices.' This story was originally featured on
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Miami Herald
Fed governor calls for multiple interest rate cuts
Is the long wait to cut interest rates winding down? Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman wants the Fed to ditch its "wait-and-see" approach to monetary policy and begin to substantially lower interest rates starting next month. In her remarks, Bowman cited weakness in recent labor market data, plus signs that tariff inflation appears transitory, before regional senior banking leaders Aug. 9 in Colorado. Related: A divided Federal Reserve mulls interest rate cut after wild week She warned that failure to implement multiple cuts in the benchmark Federal Funds Rate this year would risk longer-term economic instability. Her speech came two days after President Donald Trump nominated long-time ally Stephen Miran to fill a temporary vacancy at the Fed, sparking concerns of increasing politicization of the independent central bank. Image source: Bloomberg/Getty Images The Federal Open Market Committee last cut the Federal Fund Rates in December 2024. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has been under heavy fire from the White House for several months to slash rates from the current 4.25% to 4.50% level. Bowman and Fed Governor Christopher Waller, Trump appointees along with Powell, dissented from the July FOMC vote to create a historic split from the other members of the 12-person panel. Seven of those members are Fed Board of Governors, the other five rotate from the heads of the regional Federal Reserve banks. Both Bowman and Waller said early signs of weakness in the labor market justified a .25-percentage-point cut. It was the first FOMC dissent since 1993. The Federal Reserve's dual mandate from Congress requires monetary policy that balances low unemployment and low inflation. The Fed uses interest rates as the benchmark tool to maintain both sides of its mandate. But there is tension between the two. Higher interest rates lower inflation but increase job losses, while lower interest rates decrease unemployment but increase inflation. Related: Federal Reserve votes on interest rates The Federal Funds Rate is the interest rate banks pay to borrow money overnight. It sets the cost of short-term borrowing - for example, the interest on credit cards, auto loans, home equity loans, and student loans. When the Fed raises rates, yields on short-term securities typically climb and push up longer-term yields like the 10-year Treasury Bond. (Investors demand higher returns to offset anticipated inflation and tighter credit conditions.) The 10-year Treasury yield is a benchmark for U.S. mortgage rates because lenders use it to price long-term loans. As the yield rises, mortgage rates usually increase, making borrowing more expensive for homebuyers. Conversely, when the yield drops, so do mortgage rates. President Trump has been demanding a 3-percentage-point rate cut, saying it is necessary to curb recession fears, ease the stagnant housing market with lower mortgages, and reduce the interest on the federal deficit. He has lashed out at the Fed chair with heated name-calling ("Too Late Powell") and other taunts. Bowman called on the FOMC to perform three interest rate cuts of .25 this year, starting with its Sept. 17 meeting. The FOMC also meets in October and December. "A proactive approach in moving policy closer to neutral, from its current moderately restrictive stance, would help avoid a further unnecessary erosion in labor market conditions and reduce the chance that the (FOMC) will need to implement a larger policy correction should the labor market deteriorate further,'' Bowman said in prepared remarks. Bowman said it appears that inflation data is heading downward toward the Fed's 2% target, signaling that price hikes from the highest U.S. tariffs in nearly a century may be a single bump and not long term. More Federal Reserve: GOP plan to remove Fed Chair Powell escalatesTrump deflects reports on firing Fed Chair Powell 'soon'Former Federal Reserve official sends bold message on 'regime change' "As I gain even greater confidence that tariffs will not present a persistent shock to inflation, I see that upside risks to price stability have diminished," Bowman said. "With underlying inflation on a sustained trajectory toward 2%, softness in aggregate demand and signs of fragility in the labor market, I think that we should focus on risks to our employment mandate," she said. Earlier in the week, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, and Fed Governor Lisa Cook also expressed concern over new figures that show a sharp cooling in the labor market. Employers added a lower-than-expected 73,000 jobs in July, and gains in May and June were revised down by nearly 260,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate inched up to 4.2% from 4.1% in June. Bob Fraser, CIO and co‑founder of Aspen Funds, oversees more than $600 million across private credit and alternative income strategies. He expressed concern about multiple rate cuts in 2025. "Weak July employment data has definitely strengthened the case for cuts," Fraser told TheStreet. He added that Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic recently noted that hiring revisions were significant but reiterated his expectation of only one rate cut in 2025. "All this implies that any rate cuts will likely be uneven and cautious, especially if inflation continues to prove sticky,'' he said. The CME Group's widely watched FedWatch Tool forecasts the likelihood of September rate cut at 88.9%. Related: Trump makes surprise decision on Federal Reserve The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- Miami Herald
Fed Gov. Bowman wants three interest rate cuts in 2025
Aug. 9 (UPI) -- The Federal Reserve has not approved an interest rate cut since before the Nov. 5 election, but one of its governors said she wants three rate cuts this year. Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle "Miki" Bowman dissented from the Federal Open Market Committee's decision last week to maintain the current Fed rate of between 4.25% and 4.5%, she said on Saturday. She said "signs of fragility in labor market conditions" caused her to support gradually lowering the Federal Reserve's interest rate with three successive reductions, starting in July. "Economic conditions appeared to be shifting," Bowman said. "As a result, we should reflect this shift in our policy decisions." Bowman said, "Inflation has moved considerably closer to our target, after excluding temporary effects of tariffs, and the labor market has remained near full employment." "With economic growth slowing this year and signs of a less dynamic labor market becoming clear," Bowman explained, "I see it as appropriate to begin gradually moving our moderately restrictive policy stance toward a neutral setting." "Taking action at last week's meeting would have proactively hedged against the risk of a further erosion in labor market conditions and a further weakening in economic activity," she added. Bowman said the nation's economy "has been resilient" this year, but consumer spending has eased, while "residential investment" has declined. "Consumer spending on both goods and services has risen only modestly, reflecting slow gains in disposable personal income, lower levels of liquid savings and high credit card utilization," Bowman continued. She cited weakened housing demand that has reached a level that hasn't been seen since the Great Recession. "Housing activity has declined, including in single-family home construction and sales, as listings of homes for sale are growing and house prices are falling," Bowman explained. The nation's employment-to-population ratio also has declined significantly so far this year, which she said suggests labor market conditions are softening. "Payroll employment growth slowed sharply to only 35,000 jobs per month over the three months ending in July," Bowman said. "This is well below the moderate pace seen earlier in the year, likely due to a significant softening in labor demand," she added. Bowman also said President Donald Trump's tariff policies will not "present a persistent shock to inflation" because price-stability risks have eased. Bowman made her comments while addressing the Kansas Bankers Association's 2025 CEO & Senior Management Summit in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Saturday. She is one of seven Federal Reserve governors who serve 14-year terms after being nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Bowman and Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller both dissented when the Federal Reserve voted to maintain the current interest rates in July. It was the first time in more than three decades that two Federal Reserve governors dissented from the majority decision, according to MarketWatch. Trump appointed Bowman and Waller to the Federal Reserve in 2018 and 2020, respectively. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
