Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Friday that House Historian Robert Remini will retire on Aug. 31, after a five-year tenure that began with the re-establishment of the House Historian’s office in 2005.

“Dr. Remini has been a tremendous asset to the House of Representatives,” she said in a press release. “It has been an honor to have so distinguished an historian serving the House for the past five years. He has worked diligently to initiate the House Fellows Program and an oral history program for current and former Members.”

Remini was appointed as House Historian by then-Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Before coming to the House, he taught American history at Fordham University and the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has written more than 20 books on American history and won the National Book Award for one titled “The Life of Andrew Jackson,” according to the House Historian’s website.

Pelosi has created a search committee to help find Remini’s replacement, according to the release. The panel will include University of Connecticut professor Richard Brown; Allen Guelzo, the director of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College; Trudy Peterson, former acting archivist of the United States; Donald Spivey, professor of history at the University of Miami; and Julian E. Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.

“I look forward to receiving the recommendations of this panel, which will ensure that the Historian’s position will be filled by a respected and dedicated scholar,” Pelosi said.