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:

•      Joyce A. Barr, Assistant Secretary of State for Administration, Department of State

•      Anne W. Patterson, Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt, Department of State

•      Claude M. Steele, Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation

The President also announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

•      Dottie Bennett, Member, Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad

•      Catherine Bertini, Member, Board of International Food and Agricultural Development

•      Tammy Duckworth, Member, Board of Trustees of the American Folklife Center

•      Jodi Gillette, Member, Board of Trustees of the American Folklife Center

•      Debra Langford, Member, Board of Governors of the United Service Organizations, Incorporated

•      Mathew McCollough, Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board Board

•      Ronald B. Rapoport, Member, Board of Trustees of the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation

•      Deborah Ryan, Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board

Tammy Duckworth and Jodi Gillette will continue serving in their current roles in addition to these appointments.

President Obama said, "The skill and dedication of these individuals will make them valued additions to my administration, and 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:

Joyce A. Barr, Nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for Administration, Department of State

Joyce A. Barr is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and currently serves as International Affairs Advisor and Deputy Commandant for the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at National Defense University. Prior to this assignment, Ms. Barr served as Executive Director for the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau at the Department of State from 2007 to 2009 and as U.S. Ambassador to Namibia from 2004 to 2007. Since joining the Foreign Service in 1979, Ms. Barr has held numerous assignments both in Washington and abroad. Her overseas experience includes assignments in Malaysia, Turkmenistan, Sudan, Kenya and Sweden. In Washington Ms. Barr's assignments have included: Recruitment Officer in the Bureau of Personnel, Human Rights Officer for the Middle East and South Asia in the former Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, and Desk Officer for the U.N. Industrial Development Organization and the World Tourism Organization in the Bureau of International Organizations. Ms. Barr holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Pacific Lutheran University, an MPA from Harvard University, an M.S. from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at National Defense Universityand an Honorary Doctorate from Pacific Lutheran University.

Anne W. Patterson, Nominee for Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt, Department of State

Ambassador Anne W. Patterson holds the rank of Career Ambassador in the Senior Foreign Service and most recently served as U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan from July 2007 to October 2010. Prior to serving as U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, Ambassador Patterson's recent assignments have included: Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Deputy Permanent Representative and Acting Permanent Representative at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, Deputy Inspector General, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia and U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador. Ambassador Patterson has received numerous honors and awards for her service, including the Secretary's Distinguished Service Award in 2008 and 2010, and the Ryan Crocker Award for Expeditionary Diplomacy in 2009. Ambassador Patterson received a B.A. from Wellesley College and joined the Foreign Service in 1973.

Claude M. Steele, Nominee for Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation

Claude M. Steele is the Provost of Columbia University and a Professor of Psychology. An accomplished scholar and teacher, Dr. Steele is best known for developing the theory of stereotype threat, designating a common process through which people from different groups, when threatened by different stereotypes, can have quite different experiences in the same situation. Dr. Steele has taught at Stanford University and the Universities of Utah, Washington, and Michigan. At Stanford, he served as the Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences, Director of the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, and Director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He has published articles in numerous scholarly journals and wrote a book entitled Whistling Vivaldi: And Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Steele earned his Ph.D. in psychology from Ohio State University, and he received his B.A. from Hiram College.

President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Dottie Bennett, Appointee for Member, Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad

Dottie Bennett isthe former Vice President of the American Jewish Committee and former Chair of its National Council. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of The Jewish Outreach Institute, The Ramer Center, Berlin, American Jewish International Relations Institute, and the Harold Rosenthal Fellowship in International Relations. She is a past chair of Project Interchange and a trustee of the United Jewish Endowment Fund. She is a recipient of the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Ms. Bennett was appointed by President Bush in 2004 to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council, where she chaired the Collections and Artifacts Committee and the Education Committee.

Catherine Bertini, Appointee for Member, Board for International Food and Agriculture Development

Catherine Bertini is currently Chair of the International Relations Program and Professor of Public Administration and International Relations at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University. Prior to her current position, Ms. Bertini served as a Senior Fellow in Agricultural Development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. From 2003 to 2005 Ms. Bertini was United Nations Under Secretary General for Management and from 1992 to 2002 she served as the Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program. Ms. Bertini also served as Assistant Secretary for Food and Consumer Services at the US Department of Agriculture from 1989 to 1992. Through the course of her career Ms. Bertini has been recognized with numerous awards and honors including being named 2003 World Food Prize Laureate. She holds a B. A. in Political Science from the State University of New York at Albany.

Tammy Duckworth, Appointee for Member, Board of Trustees of the American Folklife Center

Tammy Duckworth was appointed by President Obama as the Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Veterans Affairs on April 22nd, 2009. In this role, Ms. Duckworth is responsible for communications, intergovernmental relations, programs for homeless veterans, consumer affairs and national rehabilitative events for the Department. Ms. Duckworth previously served as Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs. A Major in the Army National Guard, Ms. Duckworth served in Iraq as a Black Hawk helicopter pilot. She received decorations for her actions, including the Purple Heart, the Air Medal, and the Combat Action Badge. In 2007, she received the Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award and was named the 2008 Disabled Veteran of the Year by the Disabled American Veterans. In 2009, she was named as an American Veterans (AMVETS) Silver Helmet Award recipient as well as The George Washington University's Colin Powell Public Service Award recipient. Ms. Duckworth earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Hawaii and a master's degree from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Jodi Gillette, Appointee for Member, Board of Trustees of the American Folklife Center

Jodi Gillette, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota, is the Deputy Assistant Secretary to the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs for Policy and Economic Development in the U.S. Department of the Interior. Prior to this, she served as the Deputy Associate Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Associate Director of Public Engagement, where she was responsible for the communication and interaction between tribal nations and the President of the United States. Ms. Gillette came to the White House after serving as state director of the Obama Campaign for Change's First American Vote initiative in North Dakota. Prior to that, Ms. Gillette served as executive director of the Native American Training Institute in Bismarck, a non-profit offering technical assistance and training to tribal, state and local governments in the area of human service delivery systems. She also had served as an economic development planner for her tribe in Fort Yates, North Dakota.

Debra Langford, Appointee for Governor, Board of Governors of the United Service Organizations, Incorporated

Debra Langford is Vice President of Inclusion and Business Diversity at NBCUniversal, responsible for setting and advancing the Inclusion & Business Diversity strategy across the company. Prior to joining NBCUniversal, Ms. Langford was Vice President of Strategic Sourcing for Time Warner. She is currently the 2010-11 Southern California Vice President of the National Association of Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) and a co-founder of ColourTV and ColourFilm, the organizations of top diverse creative executives in television and film.

Mathew McCollough, Appointee for Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board

Mathew McCollough is currently the Executive Director of the DC Developmental Disabilities Council. Previously, Mr. McCollough served as the Communications Manager for the Office for Disability Rights, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance office for the DC Government. From 2002 until 2008, he served as a grant manager and program specialist for the Association of University Centers on Disabilities. In 2009, he was appointed by Mayor Adrian Fenty to serve on the DC Rehabilitation Services Council as a Government Representative. Mr. McCollough received his master's degree in Public Administration from American University and his bachelor's degree in political science from James Madison University.

Ronald B. Rapoport, Appointee for Member, Board of Trustees of the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation

Ronald B. Rapoport is the John Marshall Professor of Government at the College of William and Mary. He has published more than forty articles and book chapters in the areas of political behavior, political parties, survey research, and voting and public opinion. He co-authored Three's a Crowd: The Dynamic of Third Parties, Ross Perot and Republican Resurgence in 2005 and he is co-editor of The Life of the Parties. He received his B.A. from Oberlin College and his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan.

Deborah A. Ryan, Appointee for Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board

Deborah A. Ryan is the founder and Director of Deborah A. Ryan & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in ensuring compliance with state and federal accessibility requirements. Prior to the creation of her firm in 2002, she was employed at the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board for twenty-six years, including fifteen years as the Executive Director. She previously served on the Public Rights of Way Access Advisory Committee for the U.S. Access Board. Ms. Ryan is also an active member of the Boston Society of Architects Access Committee. Ms. Ryan attended Boston Architectural College and is a licensed attorney in Massachusetts.