Press Release - President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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

•      Vinton G. Cerf – Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation

•      Marta Araoz de la Torre – Member, Cultural Property Advisory Committee

•      Michael Graves – Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board

•      Laurie Leshin – Member, Advisory Board of the National Air and Space Museum

•      Lynne Sebastian – Member, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

President Obama said, "These fine public servants both bring a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their new roles. Our nation will be well-served by these individuals, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come." 

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

Dr. Vinton G. Cerf, Appointee for Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation

Dr. Vinton G. Cerf is Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google, a position he has held since 2005. Previously, he was the Senior Vice President at MCI from 1994 to 2005. From 1986 to 1994, he served as Vice President of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, and from 1976 to 1982, he worked as a Program Manager and Principal Scientist at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Dr. Cerf is President of the Association for Computing Machinery and serves on the Board of the American Registry for Internet Numbers. He is a distinguished visiting scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and is Chair of the Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. From 2000 to 2007, he served as the Chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Dr. Cerf received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005, the National Medal of Technology in 1997, and the ACM Alan M. Turing Prize in 2004 for his contributions to the development of the Internet. Dr. Cerf received a B.S. from Stanford University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Marta Araoz de la Torre, Appointee for Member, Cultural Property Advisory Committee

Marta Araoz de la Torre is an independent heritage consultant. From 2003 to 2008, she was the Director of the Museum Studies Graduate Certificate Program at Florida International University in Miami. From 1985 to 2002, she was a Director at the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles. Ms. de la Torre was first appointed as a Member of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) by President Obama in October 2011. She previously served as a Member of CPAC from 2003 to 2008. Ms. de la Torre served on the Board of Studies of the Wall Paintings Conservation Course of the Courtauld Institute in London, and on the Hamilton Kerr Institute in Cambridge, U.K. She has served on the Executive Committee of the International Council of Museums and the Board of the American Association of Museums/International Council of Museums. Ms. de la Torre received a B.A. from the George Washington University and an M.A. from American University. 

Michael Graves, Appointee for Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board

Michael Graves is the founding principal of Michael Graves & Associates, an architecture and design firm that he founded in 1964. Since then, the practice has evolved into two firms: Michael Graves & Associates and Michael Graves Design Group. Mr. Graves is also the Robert Schirmer Professor of Architecture, Emeritus at Princeton University, where he taught for nearly 40 years. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, Mr. Graves is the 2012 Richard H. Driehaus Prize Laureate and the 2010 recipient of the AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion. Additionally, he received the American Institute of Architects' Gold Medal in 2001, the National Medal of Arts in 1999, and was named one of the Top 25 Most Influential People in Healthcare Design by the Center for Health Design in 2010. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and is a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the American Academy in Rome. Mr. Graves received a B.S.Arch from the University of Cincinnati and an M.Arch from Harvard University.

Dr. Laurie Leshin, Appointee for Member, Advisory Board of the National Air and Space Museum

Dr. Laurie Leshin is Dean of the School of Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. From 2005 to 2011, she served in various senior roles at NASA, including Deputy Associate Administrator for NASA Headquarters' Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, the Deputy Center Director for Science and Technology, and Director of Science at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Before joining NASA, Dr. Leshin was the Dee and John Whiteman Dean's Distinguished Professor of Geological Sciences and the Director of the Center for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State University. Dr. Leshin was appointed to the President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy in 2004. In 1996, she was awarded the Nier Prize for outstanding research by a scientist under the age of 35 by the Meteoritical Society. The International Astronomical Union recognized her contributions to planetary science with the naming of asteroid 4922 Leshin. She received a B.S. from Arizona State University and a Ph. D. from the California Institute of Technology.

Dr. Lynne Sebastian, Appointee for Member, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

Dr. Lynne Sebastian is Director of Historic Preservation Programs at the Statistical Research Inc. Foundation, a position she has held since 2001. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Sebastian was the State Historic Preservation Officer for the State of New Mexico from 1997 to 1999, and she was the Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer and the State Archaeologist from 1987 to 1997. She is the President of the Register of Professional Archaeologists and was the President of the Society for American Archaeology from 2003 to 2005. Dr. Sebastian received a B.A. from the University of Michigan, an M.A. from the University of Utah, and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico.