Appointment of Richard Schifter as United States Representative on the United Nations Human Rights Commission

The President today announced his intention to appoint Richard Schifter to be the Representative of the United States of America on the Human Rights Commission of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. He will succeed Michael Novak.

Mr. Schifter is presently a partner in the law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Kampelman in Washington, D.C. He was Alternate U.S. Representative for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1981-1989; United States Representative, Committee on Conventions and Recommendations, UNESCO, in 1981-1982; and a member of the President's Task Force on American Indians in 1966-1967. He has also been a member of the United States Holocaust Council since 1980.

He graduated from the College of the City of New York (B.S., 1943) and Yale Law School (LL.B., 1951). He is married, has five children, and resides in Bethesda, Md. He was born July 31, 1923.