The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta announced Monday morning that University of Southern California economist Raphael Bostic will serve as the next president of the regional Fed bank, replacing former president Dennis Lockhart.

Bostic’s appointment, approved by the Fed’s Board of Governors in Washington, marks the first time in the 104-year history of the Fed that a regional bank will have a black president. In recent months, congressional Democrats have pressed the Fed system to increase representation of Hispanic and African-American people in its leadership ranks.