Goolsbee to leave White House in fall

Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee will leave the White House for the 2011-2012 school year to resume his teaching post at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, the White House announced on Monday evening. Goolsbee had taught at the school for 14 years, most recently as the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics.

"Working each day on behalf of the American people has been a rare privilege, particularly at such a historic time," Goolsbee said in a statement. "While I am looking forward to returning home to Chicago, I will always be proud of the years I have spent working for this president. I believe that his judgment, his courage in confronting the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes, and his commitment to the American people have made a tremendous difference for the nation."

Goolsbee had also been serving as the staff economist for President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board and a senior advisor to the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, two posts that allowed him to shape the administration's efforts to improve the economy. But his professorial background always shone through: Goolsbee was fond of doing video tutorials on the economy on a White House "white board."

"Since I first ran for the U.S. Senate, Austan has been a close friend and one of my most trusted advisers," Obama said. "Over the past several years, he has helped steer our country out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and although there is still much work ahead, his insights and counsel have helped lead us toward an economy that is growing and creating millions of jobs. He is one of America's great economic thinkers."