WASHINGTON — The Council of Economic Advisers will have a prominent voice in White House discussions after President Obama named his longtime adviser Jason Furman as chairman of the panel on Monday.

Mr. Furman, 42, who had a large role in developing the government’s response to the economic crisis, “is one of the most brilliant economic minds of his generation,” Mr. Obama said in making the nomination official before an audience of friends and family members at the White House. The president urged the Senate to quickly confirm Mr. Furman, who has won respect from both parties despite the divisiveness of the fiscal fights of recent years.

During Mr. Obama’s presidency, Mr. Furman has moved up at the White House National Economic Council, becoming principal deputy to the director, Gene B. Sperling. The departure of the current chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Alan B. Krueger, who decided to return to Princeton, created an opening for Mr. Furman, who has been long considered a candidate for a higher post.