President Barack Obama has reportedly chosen the University of Chicago to host his presidential library.(Photo: Michael B. Thomas, AFP/Getty Images)
President Obama has picked the University of Chicago to host his future presidential library, according to multiple news reports.
The university was picked over Columbia University in New York , the president's alma mater, as well as the University of Hawaii and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The University of Chicago would not confirm reports that it had won the contest to host the library, and the White House deferred comment to the Barack Obama Foundation, the organization overseeing the library selection process.
A spokeswoman for the foundation did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who was Obama's chief of staff and led the lobbying effort to bring the library to the city, is expected to make the announcement public within the next two weeks, according to the
New York Times.
The Obamas have deep ties to the University of Chicago. Obama served as a senior lecturer at the university law school, and First Lady Michelle Obama was an executive at the university hospital.
The Obamas also own a home near the university.
It remains unclear where exactly the library will be built. The University of Chicago proposed two different on Chicago parkland. The Chicago Park District has agreed to donate the land if the president picked Chicago.
The Illinois General Assembly last week passed legislation clarifying that the library and another planned project, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art , could be built on parkland or the city's lakefront.
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