Another top adviser to Barack Obama has Tar Heel ties.

Cassandra Q. Butts has not been appointed to any official posts within the Obama administration yet, but she has known the president-elect since they applied for financial aid at the same time at Harvard Law School.

A profile in The New York Times said she is "a utility-infielder player with wide breadth in a number of areas" who could be in charge of legal advice or personnel for the president.

Butts moved to Durham when she was nine years old and earned a bachelor of arts in political science from UNC-Chapel Hill. Her first job was as a counselor for the Durham YMCA, and after college she worked for a year as a researcher with the African News Service in Durham.

She also has worked for the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank that employs Elizabeth Edwards and Obama's top domestic policy adviser. 

Hat Tip: Triangulator