Austan Goolsbee will return to the faculty of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business this fall after completing his service as chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, the school announced today.
Goolsbee, the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics, spent 14 years on the Chicago Booth faculty before joining the Obama administration.
“Austan’s courses were popular with our MBA students before he went to Washington, and I suspect they will be even more popular now,” said Sunil Kumar, dean of Chicago Booth. “We are delighted to have him back.”
“Since I first ran for the U.S. Senate, Austan has been a close friend and one of my most trusted advisers,” President Obama said in news release from the White House. “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.”
In the White House news release Goolsbee said, “Working each day on behalf of the American people has been a rare privilege, particularly at such a historic time. 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.”
In addition to serving as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Goolsbee was a staff economist for the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory board, where he helped guide the administration’s response to the economic crisis. He also has worked as a senior adviser to the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, serving as an important link with the business community. Under his leadership, the CEA focused on policies related to small business, education, innovation and competition, which are essential to ensuring long-term economic growth, according to the White House announcement.
At Chicago Booth, Goolsbee has taught MBA courses in microeconomics, strategy in the information economy, and the economics and policy of the telecom, media and technology industries.
Among his many awards, Goolsbee was named a Fulbright Scholar and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow. In 2002, he was chosen as one of the 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
Goolsbee received a PhD in economics from MIT in 1995, the same year he joined the Chicago Booth faculty.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
