Press Release - President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key administration posts:

•      Judith Ann Stewart Stock, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Department of State

•      David L. Strickland, Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Department of Transportation

•      William B. Sansom, Member, Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority

President Obama will also appoint Victoria Reggie Kennedy to serve as a Member of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

President Obama said, "The proven expertise and commitment of these individuals will be tremendously valuable to my administration as we work to tackle our nation's many challenges. I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years."

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals today:

Judith Ann Stewart Stock, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Department of State

Ann Stock is currently the Vice President of Institutional Affairs at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Ms. Stock oversees the Center's expanded efforts to increase its national and international profile and manages the Center's International Arts Management Programs. She also supervises the Government Relations Office, Press Office and Office of Institutional Affairs. From 1993-1997, Ms. Stock was Deputy Assistant to former President Clinton and the Social Secretary at The White House. Prior to that, Ms. Stock served as Vice President of Corporate Communications and Public Relations for Bloomingdale's Department Stores for ten years. Ms. Stock was also Deputy Press Secretary to Vice President Walter F. Mondale during the 1980 Presidential election campaign. Ms. Stock has a B.A. from Purdue University.

David L. Strickland, Nominee for Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Department of Transportation

David L. Strickland has served for eight years on the staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. As the Senior Counsel for the Consumer Protection Subcommittee, he is currently the lead staff person for the oversight of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. He has also served as the lead Senate staff person in the formulation of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) reforms and standards included in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and in a staff leadership role in the reauthorization of the NHTSA in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2005 (SAFETEA-LU). His work in advising Commerce Committee members led to the inclusion of several significant vehicle safety mandates, including the electronic stability control mandate for every passenger vehicle. Mr. Strickland advised Congressional members on safety reforms and funding increases for the NHTSA's seatbelt and drunk driving grant programs and earned national recognition for making the driving public safer from Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD), who named him Congressional Staffer of the Year in 2004. Mr. Strickland earned his J.D. degree at Harvard Law School, and his B.S. Degree in Communication Studies and Political Science at Northwestern University.

William B. Sansom, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority

William B. Sansom currently serves on the Board of the Tennessee Valley Authority. He is also chairman and chief executive officer of the H.T. Hackney Co., a diversified company primarily in the wholesale grocery business. Mr. Sansom started his career as an engineer at the American Limestone Company, and then served as their President until being named Commissioner of Transportation for the State of Tennessee in 1979. In 1981, Mr. Sansom was named Tennessee's Commissioner of Finance and Administration and in 1983, he left state government to become chairman and chief executive officer of Hackney. Mr. Sansom has also served as president of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the Knoxville Community Development Corporation, and president of the Tennessee Business Roundtable. He has served as president of The Citadel Development Foundation and as a Board Member at Maryville College, Wake Forest University, and The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees for 15 years. Mr. Sansom enlisted in the Marine Corps and attended The Citadel where he received a degree in Civil Engineering.

President Obama will appoint the following individual to serve as a Member to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts:

Victoria Reggie Kennedy, Member, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts

Victoria Reggie Kennedy is an attorney and advocate for issues that affect the lives of women, children and families. She is the founding President of Common Sense about Kids and Guns and serves on an advisory board of the Boston Red Sox Foundation Home Base Program. Mrs. Kennedy was a founding director of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Edward M. Kennedy Oral History Project at the University of Virginia Miller Center. From 1997-2007, she was a Trustee of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, in Washington, DC. Mrs. Kennedy practiced law in the private sector until 1997, with a special emphasis on bank regulatory and commercial law, and corporate strategic planning. In 1998, she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the Suffolk University Law School. She earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from the Tulane Law School 1979, and her B.A., magna cum laude, from Newcomb College in 1976.