Press Release - Personnel Announcements

President George W. Bush today announced his intention to nominate one individual to serve in his administration and his designation of two individuals to hold positions in his administration. President Bush today also announced his formal nomination of two individuals to serve as Judges for the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.

The President intends to nominate R. Nicholas Burns to be the United States Permanent Representative to the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. He has held the post of Ambassador to Greece since 1997. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, he served as State Department Spokesman and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs from 1995 to 1997. From 1990 to 1995 he was a member of the National Security Council as Director of Soviet (and then Russian) Affairs under President Bush and as Senior Director for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia Affairs under President Clinton. Ambassador Burns has held a variety of positions at the State Department and abroad since 1982 and has been awarded the Department's Superior Honor Award three times. Originally from Massachusetts, he is a graduate of Boston College and received a Master's degree from John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

The President has designated Frank D. Yturria to be Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation. He has served as a Member of this Board since being appointed by former President Bush in 1990 and then re-appointed by President Clinton. From 1982 to 1984, former President Reagan appointed Mr. Yturria to the South Pacific Commission. He was appointed Collector of Customs for the 23rd Collections District of Texas by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 and served until 1961. Yturria is a WWII and Korean War veteran, a graduate of Texas A&M University, and is the owner of Yturria Ranch in Brownsville, Texas.

The President has designated Patricia Hill Williams to be Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation. She was appointed to the Board of Directors by former President Clinton in 1994. Williams was appointed by President Reagan to his National Advisory Council on Women's Educational Programs and by President Bush to his Presidential Advisory Council on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. She is currently the Vice President for external affairs at the State University of New York at Farmingdale. She is a graduate of SUNY at Old Westbury, received a Master's from New York Institute of Technology and from SUNY Stony Brook and an E.D.D. Degree from California Coast University.

The President has officially nominated Richard F. Cebull to serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.

The President has officially nominated Sam Haddon to serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.