Appointment of Jose E. Martinez as Special Assistant to the President and Associate Director of Presidential Personnel

The President today announced the appointment of Jose E. Martinez to be Special Assistant to the President and Associate Director of Presidential Personnel.

Since January 1990 Mr. Martinez has been Associate Director of Presidential Personnel for National Security Matters. Prior to this he was president of J.E. Martinez & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm located in Alexandria, VA. Mr. Martinez served in the U.S. Air Force from 1961 to 1981. His assignments included congressional liaison officer for the Secretary of the Air Force and country manager for foreign military sales. From August 1981 to March 1985, Mr. Martinez served as a professional staff member for the Senate Committee on Armed Services. His responsibilities included the authorization of the Department of Defense requests for other procurement, military construction, and ammunition. He also served as special assistant to the committee chairman and as committee press secretary. In 1984 Mr. Martinez was Texas campaign director of Hispanics for Reagan/Bush. In 1988 and 1989, he served as national campaign director of Hispanics for Bush-Quayle and codirector for outreach programs in the office of the President-elect, respectively.

Mr. Martinez, of Brownsville, Texas, obtained his B.A. in 1976 from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, TX, and his M.A. in 1979 from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He is married to the former Shirley Ann White and has five sons.