The U.S. Embassy announced Friday that U.S. Ambassador Mark Langdale will be leaving his post in Costa Rica to head up the George W. Bush Presidential Library beginning Jan. 1, 2008.

Langdale will supervise the daily operations of the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation, including hiring staff and overseeing the library's construction on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, according to a statement from the embassy.

The embassy did not release any information Friday about who will take Langdale's place as U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica.

“I'm anxious to supervise the library foundation to develop a presidential library that will give historians access to important documents and information about the 43 rd U.S. President,” Langdale said in the statement.

Through the foundation, Langdale also hopes to “offer a space for world leaders, scholars and experts to discuss, debate and advance on public policy ideas,” the statement said.

Langdale and Bush have been friends for 20 years, since they met as neighbors in Dallas, Texas.

The ambassador practiced law in Houston, Texas, before co-founding the satellite communications company CapRock Communications Corp. He has also acted as president of the Texas Department of Economic Development and as president of Posadas USA Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of the Mexican hotel operator Grupo Posadas.

He and his wife Patty have two children. During his stint as ambassador here, Langdale focused on pushing Costa Rica to approve the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), which was passed in a nationwide referendum last month.

-Tico Times