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:

•      Alan F. Estevez – Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, Department of Defense

•      Vincent G. Logan – Special Trustee for American Indians, Department of the Interior

•      Olga Viso – Member, National Council on the Arts

•      Marilyn A. Brown – Member, Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority

•      V. Lynn Evans – Member, Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority

•      Michael McWherter – Member, Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority

•      Joe H. Ritch – Member, Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority

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

•      Jean Bahr – Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

•      Steven M. Becker – Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

•      Susan L. Brantley – Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

•      Efi Foufoula-Georgiou – Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

•      Gerald S. Frankel – Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

•      Kenneth Lee Peddicord – Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

•      Paul J. Turinsky – Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

•      Mary Lou Zoback – Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

President Obama said, "I am confident that these outstanding men and women 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:

Alan F. Estevez, Nominee for Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, Department of Defense
Alan F. Estevez is currently Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness. Prior to his appointment in 2011, he was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness. From 2002 to 2006, he was Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Supply Chain Integration. From 1991 to 2002, Mr. Estevez worked within the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the United States Army Strategic Logistics Agency. From 1981 to 1990, he worked with Military Traffic Management Command. He is the recipient of the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service, the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service, and the 2005 Service to America Medal. Mr. Estevez received a B.A. from Rutgers University and an M.A. from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

Vincent G. Logan, Nominee for Special Trustee for American Indians, Department of the Interior

Vincent G. Logan is the owner of The Nations Group, LLC, which works with Native American tribes on asset management, investment strategies, and financial education. He worked in the Private Banking and Investment Group at Merrill Lynch from 2006 to 2009, and was a corporate finance attorney for Schulte, Roth, & Zabel from 2001 to 2006. Prior to that, Mr. Logan worked in the Antitrust Division at the United States Department of Justice from 1996 to 1998. He was appointed to the Oklahoma State University Foundation Board of Governors in 2010. Mr. Logan is a member of the Osage Nation. He received a B.S. from Oklahoma State University and a J.D. from the University Of Oklahoma College of Law.

Olga Viso, Nominee for Member, National Council on the Arts

Olga Viso is Executive Director of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a position she has held since 2008. Previously, from 1995 to 2007, she held positions at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden – Smithsonian Institution, starting as Assistant Curator and becoming Director in 2005. Ms. Viso was a Curator at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida from 1993 to 1995, and held several curatorial and administrative positions at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia from 1989 to 1993. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and is a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors. From 2003 to 2006, she served on the Federal Advisory Committee on International Exhibitions. Ms. Viso received a B.A. from Rollins College and an M.A. from Emory University.

Dr. Marilyn A. Brown, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority

Dr. Marilyn A. Brown is a professor at the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she has served since 2006. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority since September 2010. From 1984 to 2006, Dr. Brown worked at the United States Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where she held a number of roles, including Director of the Engineering Science and Technology Division from 2005 to 2006. Currently, she serves as a Distinguished Visiting Scientist at ORNL. In 2006, she co-founded the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance and chaired its Board of Directors from 2006 to 2009. Dr. Brown is a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. She received a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University, an M.R.P. in Resource Planning from the University of Massachusetts, and a Ph.D. in Geography from The Ohio State University.

V. Lynn Evans, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority

V. Lynn Evans is the owner of V. Lynn Evans, CPA, a certified public accounting and consulting firm established in 1983. Ms. Evans has also served on the Board of Commissioners of Memphis Light, Gas, and Water Division since 2004, and served as Chair of the Board from 2008 to 2009. She has served on the Board of Directors of First Alliance Bank in Memphis, Tennessee, since its inception in 1998. Ms. Evans is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Black Business Association, and the National Association of Women Business Owners. She has served on the boards of a number of community organizations, including ArtsMemphis from 1998 to 2008 and the RISE Foundation from 1997 to 2007, where she was Vice Chair in 2007. Ms. Evans received a B.S. in Accounting from Jackson State University.

Michael McWherter, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority

Michael McWherter is owner and President of Central Distributors Co. and Volunteer Distributing Co., Tennessee-based beverage distribution companies, since 1989 and 1985 respectively. Mr. McWherter worked in private law practice from 1982 to 1985 in Nashville, with a focus on banking and administrative law, and clerked for the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1981 to 1982. He serves as Director and former Chairman of First State Bank of Union City, Tennessee, and is on the Board of Directors of the Jackson Energy Authority in Jackson, Tennessee. Mr. McWherter was the Democratic nominee in the 2010 Tennessee Gubernatorial race. He has served as Director of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce and the Nashville Arts Council. From 1988 to 1995, he served as a Member of the Board of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Mr. McWherter received both a B.A and a J.D. from Vanderbilt University.

Joe H. Ritch, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority

Joe H. Ritch is an attorney at the Sirote & Permutt law firm in Huntsville, Alabama, where he has worked since 1982. He has served as Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Base Realignment and Closures Committee since 1994 and as Co-Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Growth Coordination Group since 2008. He also served as a Member of the University of Alabama Board of Trustees from 2005 to 2011. Mr. Ritch serves on the Board of Directors at several other companies and non-profits, including Axiometrics and the Von Braun Center for Innovative Science. He received a B.S. from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, a J.D. from Samford University, and an L.L.M. in Taxation from New York University.

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

Dr. Jean Bahr, Appointee for Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

Dr. Jean Bahr is a professor in the Department of Geoscience at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She has been a professor at the University of Wisconsin since 1987, serving as Chair of the Department from 2005 to 2008. From 1984 to 1986, Dr. Bahr served as a hydrologist for the United States Geological Survey. Prior to that, Dr. Bahr served from 1980 to 1985 as a research assistant at Stanford University and from 1976 to 1980, she was a geologist for Wahler Associates in Palo Alto, CA. She was President of the Geological Society of America from 2009 to 2010, was a member of the National Research Council's Board on Radioactive Waste Management from 1992 to 1997, and Faculty Co-Director for the Women in Science and Engineering Residential Learning Community at the University of Wisconsin - Madison from 2003 to 2005. Dr. Bahr received a B.A. in Geology and Geophysics from Yale University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Applied Earth Sciences (Hydrogeology) from Stanford University.

Dr. Steven M. Becker, Appointee for Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

Dr. Steven M. Becker is a professor of Community and Environmental Health, College of Health Sciences, at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Prior to joining the faculty at Old Dominion University, Dr. Becker was a Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's School of Public Health, a position he held from 1997 to 2012, and has been an invited faculty member at Harvard's' School of Public Health course on Radiological Emergency Planning. In 2011, Dr. Becker was a member of a three-person Assistance Team that was invited to Japan in response to the earthquake-tsunami and accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. He has also served as a Member of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements since 2005. Dr. Becker was a Kreitman Scholar and post-doctoral fellow at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel from 1996 to 1997. Dr. Becker received a B.A. in Political Science and Psychology from George Washington University, an M.A. in Political Science from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Social Work and Social Research in Bryn Mawr College's Occupational and Environmental Health Program.

Dr. Susan L. Brantley, Appointee for Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

Dr. Susan L. Brantley is currently a distinguished professor of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University, a faculty position she has held since 1986. In this capacity she also serves as Director of the Earth & Environmental Systems Institute. From 2006 to 2008, Dr. Brantley served as the President of the Geochemical Society. From 1980 to 1981, she served as a Fulbright Scholar in Peru. Dr. Brantley received an A.B. in Chemistry and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Geological and Geophysical Sciences from Princeton University.

Dr. Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, Appointee for Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

Dr. Efi Foufoula-Georgiou is a professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota, having joined the University in 1989. She has served as the Director of the National Center for Earth-Surface Dynamics at the University since 2008. Dr. Foufoula-Georgiou was an assistant professor at Iowa State University from 1986 to 1989 and a research associate at University of Minnesota's St. Anthony Falls Hydraulic Laboratory from 1985 to 1986. She has served on the National Center for Atmospheric Research's Science Advisory Board since 2005, and is a member of the American Geophysical Union, American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Society of Women Engineers. Dr. Foufoula-Georgiou received a degree in Civil Engineering from the National Technical University in Athens, Greece, as well as an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida.

Dr. Gerald S. Frankel, Appointee for Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

Dr. Gerald S. Frankel is a professor of Materials Science and Engineering and the Director of the Fontana Corrosion Center at The Ohio State University, where he has served since 1995. In 2007, he was named the Det Norske Veritas Chair in Corrosion. From 1986 to 1995, Dr. Frankel was a Research Staff Member at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, and he did post-doctoral research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology from 1985-1986. He was Chairman of the Corrosion Division of the Electrochemical Society from 2000 to 2002, and Chairman of the Research Committee of the National Association of Corrosion Engineers from 2004 to 2006. Dr. Frankel earned The Ohio State University Distinguished Scholar Award in 2010 and the H.H. Uhlig Award from the Corrosion Division of The Electrochemical Society in 2010. He received a Sc.B. in Materials Science and Engineering from Brown University and an Sc.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Kenneth Lee Peddicord, Appointee for Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

Dr. Kenneth Lee Peddicord has served as the Director of the Nuclear Power Institute at Texas A&M University since 2007, where he has been a professor of Nuclear Engineering since 1983. From 2007 to 2009, he served as the Senior Associate Dean for Research at Texas A&M's Dwight Look College of Engineering, and from 2003 to 2007, he was Texas A&M's Vice Chancellor for Research and Federal Relations. Dr. Peddicord served as the Associate Director for Educational Outreach at NASA's Commercial Space Center for Engineering from 1999 to 2000 and as the Director of the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center in Texas from 1998 to 2000. Dr. Peddicord is a member of the American Nuclear Society, the American Society for Engineering Education, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Illinois.

Dr. Paul J. Turinsky, Appointee for Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

Dr. Paul J. Turinsky is a professor of Nuclear Engineering at North Carolina State University (NCSU), where he has worked since 1980. Since 2010, he has served as the Chief Scientist for the Department of Energy's Innovation Hub for Modeling and Simulation of Nuclear Reactors. Dr. Turinsky served as head of the NCSU's Department of Nuclear Engineering from 1980 to 1988 and again from 1999 to 2006. He served in engineering and management positions for Westinghouse Electric from 1973 to 1980 and as an assistant professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 1970 to 1973. Dr. Turinsky is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society and an E.O Lawrence Awardee in Nuclear Technology. Dr. Turinsky received a B.S in Chemical Engineering from University of Rhode Island, an M.S.E. and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Mary Lou Zoback, Appointee for Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

Dr. Mary Lou Zoback is a consulting professor in the Environmental Earth System Science Department at Stanford University, a position she has held since 2011. Previously, she was Vice President for Earthquake Risk Applications for Risk Management Solutions in Newark, CA from 2006 to 2011. Dr. Zoback served at the United States Geological Survey from 1978 to 2006, most recently as a Senior Research Scientist and Program Coordinator for the Northern California Earthquake Hazards Program. In 2000, Dr. Zoback was appointed to the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science, and in 1996, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. In addition, she is a member of the American Geophysical Union and the Geological Society of America, and served on the National Research Council's Board on Radioactive Waste Management from 1997 to 2000. Dr. Zoback received a B.S., an M.S., and a Ph.D. in Geophysics from Stanford University.