Obama names Ann Arbor native Gene Sperling as director of National Economic Council

Ann Arbor natives are becoming a growing influence in the White House. Green Hills High School and University of Michigan grad Eugene Kang was named special assistant to President Obama. Ann Arbor resident and U-M professor Helen Levy was appointed to Obama’s Council Of Economic Advisors, while A2 local and U-M prof Michael Barr was tapped to serve as the Department of the Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions. Now Ann Arbor native Gene Sperling has been tapped by the president to head the National Economic Council.Excerpt:President Obama is said to be ready to name Gene Sperling the director of the National Economic Council. Mr. Sperling, 52, who held the same job under President Bill Clinton, will succeed Lawrence Summers.Here’s a quick biography and reading list for those who want to get up to speed on Mr. Sperling:A native of Ann Arbor, Mich., he went to college at the University of Minnesota and law school at Yale. He worked for Mario Cuomo, then the governor of New York, in the early 1990s, before joining Mr. Clinton’s presidential campaign. Mr. Sperling worked for the Clinton administration from start to finish — 1993 to 2001. He’s particularly proud of the work he and colleagues did to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, which has become a big part of federal anti-poverty policy.Read the rest of the story here.