Academia
Niskanen left Washington and returned to academia, becoming professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley in 1972, where he would remain until he became chief economist of Ford Motor Company in 1975. While at Berkeley, Niskanen would help establish the school's graduate school of public policy. During this time in California, he became acquainted with then-governor Ronald Reagan, who appointed him to a task force on the state's economy.
Following his dismissal from Ford in 1980 (see below), Niskanen returned to academia, this time to UCLA.
Read more about this topic: William A. Niskanen