Lawrence B. Lindsey has gone from grading Ec.10 exams to grading the economy for the leader of the free world.

When President-elect George W. Bush announced his intention to appoint former Harvard assistant professor Lawrence B. Lindsey as assistant to the president for economic policy, it coincided with the former Texas Governor's public declaration that the country should prepare for a potential economic slump.

Once a section leader for Ec. 10, Lindsey served as a member of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1991 to 1997. During that time, he forewarned of the imminent end to the country's economic prosperity. Yet even prior to his days in the White House, Lindsey gained a reputation as a valued adviser.

While at Harvard, Lindsey worked closely with Baker Professor of Economics Martin S. Feldstein '61. Feldstein, Lindsey's mentor and former adviser to the Reagan administration, praised the career successes of his former colleague.

Lauding Lindsey's work in the College's economics department, Feldstein wrote in an e-mail message, "It was [the] perfect preparation for his current job!"

Still, not all of his former colleagues expected Lindsey would end up in the White House.

"He always had an interest in public policy [but] there are a lot of policy-oriented professors at Harvard," Professor of Economics N. Gregory Mankiw says. "I wouldn't have predicted that he would end up in the position he in today"

Acknowledging his public policy expertise, Mankiw says that it is Lindsey's advising approach that will help him most in his new job.