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:

•      Allison Blakely, Member, National Council on the Humanities

•      David B. Buckley, Inspector General, Central Intelligence Agency

•      Cora B. Marrett, Deputy Director, National Science Foundation

•      Donald K. Steinberg, Deputy Administrator, USAID

•      Juan F. Vasquez, Judge, U.S. Tax Court

President Obama said, "I am grateful these accomplished men and women have agreed to join this administration, and I'm confident they will serve ably in these important roles. I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years."

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key administration posts:

Allison Blakely, Nominee for Member, National Council on the Humanities

Allison Blakely is Professor of European and Comparative History and the George and Joyce Wein Professor of African American Studies at Boston University. He was previously associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Professor Emeritus at Howard University, where he taught for 30 years. Mr. Blakely is the author of Blacks in the Dutch World: the Evolution of Racial Imagery in a Modern Society and of Russia and the Negro: Blacks in Russian History and Thought, which won the American Book Award. He was National President of the Phi Beta Kappa Society from 2006 to 2009, and currently serves on the Governing Senate. Mr. Blakely was recently appointed to the Executive Council for the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and has been the recipient of Woodrow Wilson, Mellon, Fulbright-Hays, and Ford Foundation Fellowships. Fluent in Russian, Dutch, and French, Mr. Blakely received his Ph.D. in Modern Europe and M.A. in Russian History from the University California, Berkeley and his B.A. in United States History from the University of Oregon.

David B. Buckley, Nominee for Inspector General, Central Intelligence Agency

David B. Buckley currently serves as Senior Manager for Deloitte Consulting, LLP, working with federal intelligence and homeland security clients. Mr. Buckley has more than thirty years of federal government experience in a variety of military, counterintelligence, criminal investigation, Congressional oversight and leadership positions. Specifically, Mr. Buckley served as Minority Staff Director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and, during a previous stint on Capitol Hill, as Chief Investigator for the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Mr. Buckley also served as Assistant Inspector General for Investigations with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration; and he was the Special Assistant for the Inspector General at the Department of Defense. In the mid-1980s, Mr. Buckley was a special agent for the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations after spending eight years on active duty with the Air Force. Mr. Buckley received a B.S. from the University of Maryland University College.

Cora B. Marrett, Nominee for Deputy Director, National Science Foundation

Cora B. Marrett serves as Acting Director and Chief Operation Officer of the National Science Foundation (NSF), where she oversees all day-to-day operations and management of the Foundation's national and international scientific research and education programs. From 2007 to 2009, Dr. Marrett was Assistant Director for Education and Human Resources at NSF. Prior to that, she served as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs for the University of Wisconsin System and Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. From 1997 to 2001, Dr. Marrett became the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. From 1992 to 1996, she was NSF's first Assistant Director for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences and developed policies and funding plans for the agency's nascent social and behavioral science portfolio. Dr. Marrett has held other faculty positions at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (1974-1997; 2001-present), Western Michigan University (1969-1974) and the University of North Carolina (1968-69). She has served on advisory committees for the Ford Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council, and was also a member of President Jimmy Carter's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island. Dr. Marrett is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Sigma Xi, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She holds a B.A. from Virginia Union University, and an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin.

Donald K. Steinberg, Nominee for Deputy Administrator, USAID

Donald K. Steinberg is currently Deputy President for Policy at the International Crisis Group. During three decades of U.S. diplomatic service, Mr. Steinberg served as Ambassador to Angola, Director of the State Department and USAID's Joint Policy Council, Special Representative of the President for Humanitarian Demining, Special Haiti Coordinator, Deputy White House Press Secretary, and Special Assistant for African Affairs to President Clinton on the National Security Council. Other diplomatic postings included South Africa during the transition from apartheid to non-racial democracy, Brazil, Malaysia, Central African Republic and Mauritius. He also served as senior policy adviser to then-House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt. Mr. Steinberg is a member of the U.N. Civil Society Advisory Group on Women, Peace and Security, he is a board member of the Women's Refugee Commission, and he previously served on the advisory panel to the executive director of the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). He holds a B.A. from Reed College in economics, an M.A. from the University of Toronto in political economy, and an M.S. from Columbia University in journalism.

Juan F. Vasquez, Nominee for Judge, U.S. Tax Court

Juan F. Vasquez has been serving as a U.S. Tax Court Judge since he was appointed by President William J. Clinton on May 1, 1995. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center. Prior to his appointment to the Tax Court, Judge Vasquez was in private practice representing clients in tax matters before the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Tax Court. Before entering private practice, Judge Vasquez was a trial attorney in the Internal Revenue Service's Office of Chief Counsel in Houston, Texas. Judge Vasquez became certified in tax law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in 1984. In 1976, he received a CPA certificate from the State of Texas. Judge Vasquez received a B.B.A. in Accounting from University of Texas, a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center, and an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University Law School.