Obama Names Valerie Jarrett Senior White House Advisor

President-elect Barack Obama has formally named his friend Valerie Jarrett to be a senior adviser in the White House. Her official title will be "senior advisor and assistant to the President for Inter-government relations and Public Liaison in the Obama White House, according to Los Angeles Times' Christi Parsons.

Jarrett is a co-chair of Obama's transition team and was a top advisor to him during the presidential campaign. She is 51, a Hyde Park resident and a veteran of Chicago's City Hall who went on to become the CEO of The Habitat Company, a major Chicago real estate firm as well as serving on a variety of civic and corporate boards. Read more here>

Photo courtesy of the University of Chicago News Office