President Barack Obama will appoint UNC-system President Erskine Bowles to lead a federal commission addressing the climbing federal deficit, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
The formal announcement of the bipartisan 18-person commission will be made Thursday. Bowles will lead the commission with co-chairman Alan Simpson, a former Republican U.S. Senator from Wyoming.
The commission's goal is to create a plan for reducing the federal deficit by 2015.
Bowles served as White House Chief of Staff during the administration of former President Bill Clinton and played a role in negotiating the first balanced budget in a generation. He also directed the Small Business Administration during the Clinton administration.
Bowles announced Friday morning that he will retire as UNC-system president by the end of 2010.
