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:

•      Ernie DuBester – Member, Federal Labor Relations Authority

•      Carol Waller Pope – Member, Federal Labor Relations Authority, and upon appointment to be designated Chair

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

•      Ruth David – Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation

•      Maria T. Zuber – Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation

•      Laura Skandera Trombley – Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board

President Obama said, "I am confident that these outstanding individuals will greatly serve the American people in their new roles and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come."

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

Ernie DuBester, Nominee for Member, Federal Labor Relations Authority

Ernie DuBester currently serves as a Member on the Federal Labor Relations Authority, a position he has held since 2009. Previously, Mr. DuBester served as a Mediator at the National Mediation Board from 2005 to 2009. From 2001 to 2005, Mr. DuBester was a Professor and Chair of the Dispute Resolution Program at George Mason University School of Law. During that period, he also worked as an Arbitrator of labor and employment matters, which included the handling of Federal sector cases. From 1997 to 2001, Mr. DuBester taught graduate courses in collective bargaining and arbitration at Catholic University School of Law. From 1993 to 2001, Mr. DuBester was a Member of the National Mediation Board, serving as Chairman multiple times. Mr. DuBester served as Legislative Counsel at the AFL-CIO from 1984 to 1993, and he worked at the law firm of Highsaw and Mahoney from 1981 to 1984. From 1975 to 1981, he served as Counsel to the National Labor Relations Board. Mr. DuBester received a B.A. from Boston College, a J.D. from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America, and an LL.M. in Labor Law from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Carol Waller Pope, Nominee for Member, Federal Labor Relations Authority, and upon appointment to be designated Chair

Carol Waller Pope is currently Chairman of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), a position she has held since 2009. She was first appointed as a Member of the FLRA in 2000. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Pope worked in the Office of the General Counsel of the FLRA from 1980 to 2000, first as an Attorney in the Boston Regional Office, then as Executive Assistant to the General Counsel, and finally as Assistant General Counsel. Earlier in her career, she served as an Attorney Advisor in the Employee Benefits Division of the Office of the Solicitor at the Department of Labor. Ms. Pope is the recipient of distinguished achievement and leadership awards from the American Bar Association and the Federal Labor and Employment Law Section. She received a B.A. from Simmons College and a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.

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

Dr. Ruth David, Appointee for Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation

Dr. Ruth David is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Analytic Services Inc., a position she has held since 1998. In this role, she initiated the corporation's ANSER Institute for Homeland Security and later its Applied Systems Thinking Institute. From 1995 to 1998, Dr. David was Deputy Director for Science and Technology at the Central Intelligence Agency. Previously, she worked at Sandia National Laboratories. Dr. David is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Senior Fellow of the Defense Science Board, and a Member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. Her numerous accolades include the CIA's Distinguished Intelligence Medal and the National Security Agency Director's Distinguished Service Medal. In 2010, she was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame. Dr. David received a B.S. from Wichita State University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Dr. Maria T. Zuber, Appointee for Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation

Dr. Maria T. Zuber is the E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics and incoming Vice President for Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition, she serves as the Principal Investigator of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory Mission. Dr. Zuber is the first woman to lead a science department at MIT and the first to lead a NASA planetary mission. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Geophysical Union, where she served as President of the Planetary Sciences Section. She received the MIT James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award, the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the Geological Society of America G.K. Gilbert Award, and the American Astronautical Society Carl Sagan Memorial Award. Dr. Zuber received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and an Sc.M. and Ph.D. from Brown University.

Dr. Laura Skandera Trombley, Appointee for Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board

Dr. Laura Skandera Trombley is the President of Pitzer College, a position she has held since 2002. Previously, she was Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Coe College. Dr. Trombley served as an Assistant Provost at S.U.N.Y. Potsdam from 1990 to 1997. She taught at the University of Eichstäett in Eichstäett, Germany from 1985 to 1988. Dr. Trombley is a member of the Chronicle of Higher Education/New York Times Higher Education Cabinet and the Council of Presidents of the Association of Governing Boards. Dr. Trombley received a B.A. and an M.A from Pepperdine University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California.