New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has named a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor to serve as his deputy mayor for strategic initiatives.

J. Phillip Thompson, who has worked as a political science professor at MIT since 2002, will succeed outgoing Deputy Mayor Richard Buery next month. Thompson first met the Democratic mayor and his wife, Chirlane McCray, about three decades ago, when the three worked for the administration of then-Mayor David Dinkins in the early 1990s.

Buery helped oversee the expansion of prekindergarten programs and various mental health initiatives.

The mayor says Thompson is an expert on how to better serve and elevate low-income neighborhoods.

(AP)