Press Release - President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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

•      Joseph B. Donovan – Member, Board of Directors of the National Institute of Building Sciences

•      Bruce R. Sievers – Member, National Council on the Humanities

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

•      Miaohong Hsiangju Liu – Member, President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

•      Barbara Williams-Skinner – Member, President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

President Obama said, "I am grateful that these impressive individuals have chosen to dedicate their talents to serving the American people at this important time for our country. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead."

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

Joseph B. Donovan, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the National Institute of Building Sciences

Joseph B. Donovan is Senior Vice President at Beacon Capital Partners (Beacon), a privately held real estate investment firm, where he has overseen and directed the emergency response for Beacon's portfolio since 2004. From 1997 to 2003, he was at CarrAmerica, serving first as Vice President and Director of Operations and then as Senior Vice President of Facilities Management. He worked at LaSalle Partners from 1986 to 1997 in several positions including Regional Vice President. Currently, Mr. Donovan oversees the Building Owners and Managers Association's National Preparedness Committee. He is also Vice Chair of the Real Estate Roundtable's Homeland Security Task Force and Co-Chair of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Commercial Facilities Sector Coordinating Council. Mr. Donovan received a B.A. in Accounting from the University of Dayton.

Bruce R. Sievers, Nominee for Member, National Council on the Humanities
Bruce R. Sievers is a visiting scholar and lecturer at the Haas Center for Public Service and the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, which he helped found in 2006, at Stanford University. Previously, he served as the Executive Director of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund from 1983 to 2002. He was the founding Chief Executive Officer of both California Council for the Humanities, now known as Cal Humanities, from 1974 to 1983, and Montana Committee for the Humanities, now known as Humanities Montana, from 1972 to 1974. In addition, Mr. Sievers is a Consulting Director of the Skirball Foundation and a Senior Fellow Emeritus with Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. He is a past Treasurer of the Fulbright Association. He has written widely on topics of civil society and philanthropy, and in 2010, published his book Civil Society, Philanthropy and the Fate of the Commons. Mr. Sievers was a Fulbright Scholar and received a B.A. in International Relations, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University.

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

The Venerable Miaohong Hsiangju Liu, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

The Venerable Miaohong Hsiangju Liu is a Humanitarian Project Liaison for both the International Buddhist Progress Society and Buddha's Light International Association (BLIA) in the United States and Australia, a position she has held since 1990. She has served as a special assistant to the Board of Trustees of the University of the West since 2011 and as a BLIA representative to the United Nations since 2009. She is a graduate of FoGuangShan Buddhist College, having studied Mahayana Tradition in Taiwan. She received a B.A. in International Marketing from Curtin University and a M.A. in International Marketing from Swinburne University.

Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner is President of Skinner Leadership Institute, which she co-founded in 1992. The Skinner Leadership Institute was formerly known as Tom Skinner Associates, where she was Vice President from 1981 to 1992. Previously, she was Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus from 1974 to 1981, where she helped to found the annual Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Prayer Breakfast. Dr. Williams-Skinner received a B.A. from San Francisco State University, an M.S.W. and J.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles, and a M.Div. and D.Min. from Howard University School of Divinity.