Axelrod to head politics institute at University of Chicago

Obama chief strategist David Axelrod is spearheading a new Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago.

Axelrod announced the new institute at his alma mater on Wednesday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The university formally announced the institute on Thursday.

The idea is to model a new institute after Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Axelrod said the university would make the new institute a "top destination for newsmakers and political actors," according to the Chicago newspaper. Axelrod will head the new institute as its founding director in 2013, after the upcoming presidential election. It will also focus on urban politics.

Other members of the institute's advisory board include Michael Murphy, a Republican media consultant, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D), Democratic political strategist Howard Wolfson and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, according to the Sun-Times.

Both Axelrod and President Obama himself have ties to the University of Chicago. Obama previously taught at the university's law school.

— This story was updated at 10:58 a.m.