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:

• Edward (Ned) Alford – Ambassador to the Republic of The Gambia, Department of State
• Peter W. Bodde – Ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, Department of State
• Piper A. W. Campbell – Ambassador to Mongolia, Department of State

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

• Rye Barcott – Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board
• Christie L. Gilson – Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board

President Obama said, "The extraordinary dedication these men and women bring to their new roles will greatly serve the American people. I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this Administration, 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:

Edward (Ned) Alford, Nominee for Ambassador to the Republic of The Gambia, Department of State

Edward (Ned) Alford, a career Foreign Service Officer with the rank of Minister Counselor, serves as Consul General at the U.S. Consulate in Frankfurt. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Alford was Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Management. Since joining the Foreign Service in 1978, Mr. Alford's overseas assignments have included: Management Counselor in Baghdad and Islamabad; Management Minister Counselor in Moscow; General Services Officer in Rome and Dhaka; Management Officer in Windhoek; Addis Ababa, and Leningrad; Information Systems Officer in Nairobi; and Consular Officer in Manama. In Washington, Mr. Alford's assignments have included Executive Director of the Bureaus of Near East Asia and South Central Asian Affairs, Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Management, and Post Management Officer for East Africa. Before joining the Foreign Service, Mr. Alford served in the U.S. Army from 1973 to 1976. He received a B.A. from Washington and Lee University.

Ambassador Peter W. Bodde, Nominee for Ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, Department of State

Ambassador Peter W. Bodde, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, is currently the Assistant Chief of Mission for Assistance Transition in Iraq and Coordinator for Minority Issues at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Previously, Ambassador Bodde served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Malawi from 2008 to 2010. From 2006 to 2008, he was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. From 2002 to 2006, he was Consul General at the U.S. Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany. Ambassador Bodde joined the Foreign Service in 1981, and has served in Georgetown, Guyana; Kathmandu, Nepal; Hamburg, Germany; Sofia, Bulgaria; Copenhagen, Denmark; and New Delhi, India where he was the Minister Counselor for Administrative Affairs. He has also served in various State Department positions in Washington, most recently as the Director of the Office of Management Policy. He received his B.A. from the University of Maryland.

Piper A. W. Campbell, Nominee for Ambassador to Mongolia, Department of State

Piper A. W. Campbell is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and has served as Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Basrah, Iraq since July 2011. Prior to her time in Iraq, Ms. Campbell was Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources. From 2006 to 2009, she was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S Embassy in Cambodia. Other overseas posts have included Counselor for Humanitarian Affairs for the U.S. Mission to the UN in Geneva, Switzerland; Advisor to the USAID Mission Director in Croatia; Senior Advisor to the Head of Civilian Affairs for the United Nations Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia, Croatia; General Services Officer in Belgium; and General Services Officer and Consular Officer in the Philippines. Domestically, Ms. Campbell has served as an Advisor on Asian Issues for the U.S. Mission to the U.N.; Human Rights Officer in the Bureau of International Organizations; and a Watch Officer in the State Department's Operations Center. Ms. Campbell holds a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and an M.P.A. from Harvard Kennedy School.

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

Rye Barcott, Appointee for Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board

Rye Barcott is a Special Adviser to the Chairman and CEO of Duke Energy and co-founder of Carolina for Kibera, a non-governmental organization that uses participatory development to break cycles of violence and develop leaders in the Kibera area of Nairobi, Kenya. Mr. Barcott is the author of It Happened on the Way to War, a memoir of his experiences as a Marine Corp captain and in founding Carolina for Kibera. Mr. Barcott is a TED Fellow and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. He formerly served as a member of the Board of Trustees of World Learning, the parent organization of the School for International Training. Mr. Barcott received his B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.P.A. and M.B.A. from Harvard University, where he was a Reynolds Social Entrepreneurship Fellow.

Dr. Christie L. Gilson, Appointee for Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board

Dr. Christie L. Gilson is an Assistant Professor of Education at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Dr. Gilson has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters in special education and disability studies. She was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study higher education for students with disabilities in Hong Kong in 2006. Dr. Gilson, who is blind, teaches English to blind adults in China using Voice over IP (VOIP), and has mentored youth with disabilities in Germany, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, and the United States. She received a B.S.W. from Illinois State University and an M.S.W. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.