Elizabeth Warren heading back to Harvard

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- It's time for Elizabeth Warren to say goodbye to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the consumer agency she spent nearly a year creating.

On Aug. 1, Warren will leave the bureau to return to Harvard Law School, where she will step back into her position as the Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law, the Department of Treasury said Tuesday.

Raj Date, the bureau's current associate director of research, markets and regulations, will replace Warren as the newly-launched Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's special advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury.

Last week, President Obama nominated former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray as the director of the CFPB.

But until a director is confirmed -- which looks increasingly unlikely as Republicans and Democrats continue to butt heads over the bureau's structure and capabilities -- Date will take over the agency's day-to-day operations. Meanwhile, Cordray remains as the bureau's enforcement chief.

Meet the new consumer watchdog

"Professor Warren has done an extraordinary job standing up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau," said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in a statement Tuesday. "Raj has an impressive background in financial services, academia, government, and non-profit organizations, and I am pleased that he will serve in this new capacity as the CFPB continues moving forward with its important work."

During Warren's stint at the bureau, which began in September of 2010, she made it the bureau's mission to protect consumers from predatory lenders. The agency has already begun working on an easy-to-understand mortgage disclosure form and has said it plans to cut down and simplify credit card terms and agreements.

The CFPB also hired more than 400 employees under Warren's leadership -- including Date and Cordray.