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:

•     Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir - Ambassador to Malaysia, Department of State

•     Andrew R. Young - Ambassador to Burkina Faso, Department of State

•     Shirley Woodward - Inspector General, Central Intelligence Agency

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

•     Arthur Bienenstock - Member, National Science Board

•     Francis Ali-Osman - Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

•     Lawrence Gostin - Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

•     Scott Hiebert - Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

•     Electra D. Paskett - Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

•     Nancy Raab-Traub - Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

•     Margaret R. Spitz - Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

President Obama said, "I am confident that these experienced and hardworking individuals will help us tackle the important challenges facing America, and I am grateful for their service. I look forward to working with them."

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

Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, Nominee for Ambassador to Malaysia, Department of State

Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, a career member of the Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, was the Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, a position she held from 2011 to 2015. Ms. Lakhdhir served as the U.S. Consul General in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom from 2009 to 2011. She previously worked in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs as the Director of the Office of Maritime Southeast Asia from 2007 to 2009 and as the Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2005 to 2006. From 2001 to 2005, Ms. Lakhdhir was a Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China. From 2000 to 2001, she served as a Pearson Fellow in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee and the House Financial Services Committee, Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee. From 1998 to 2000, Ms. Lakhdhir was Deputy Coordinator of the Taiwan Coordination Staff in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. She was a Line Officer in the Department's Executive Secretariat from 1996 to 1998. Since joining the Foreign Service in 1991, Ms. Lakhdhir has also served as a Political Officer in Indonesia and as a Consular Officer in Saudi Arabia. Ms. Lakhdhir received a B.A. from Harvard College and an M.S. from the National War College.

Andrew R. Young, Nominee for Ambassador to Burkina Faso, Department of State

Andrew R. Young, a career member of the Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, is Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Bamako, Mali, a position he has held since 2013. Mr. Young was an Information Officer and Korean language student at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Korea from 2010 to 2013. He served as Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France from 2007 to 2010, Desk Officer in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs from 2005 to 2007, and Foreign Policy Advisor to U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman from 2004 to 2005. Mr. Young previously served as Senior Watch Officer at the Department of State's Operation Center from 2003 to 2004, Deputy Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Auckland, New Zealand from 2000 to 2003, and as Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon, Burma from 1997 to 2000. During his time in the Foreign Service, Mr. Young has also served in India, Hong Kong, and at the India desk in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. Mr. Young received a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Shirley Woodward, Nominee for Inspector General, Central Intelligence Agency

Shirley Woodward most recently served as a Partner in the Litigation and Controversy Department at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (WilmerHale), a position she held from 2010 to 2016. Ms. Woodward was Counsel at WilmerHale from 2007 to 2010 and first joined the firm as an Associate in 2001. From 2004 to 2005, she served as Associate General Counsel and Chief Iraq Investigator for the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the U.S. Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. Prior to serving at WilmerHale, Ms. Woodward was a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor from 1999 to 2000 and Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1998 to 1999. She served as an Intelligence Operations Officer at the CIA from 1985 to 1997 and was a Military Intelligence Specialist in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1982 to 1988. Ms. Woodward received a B.S. from the University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.

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

Dr. Arthur Bienenstock, Appointee for Member, National Science Board

Dr. Arthur Bienenstock is a Special Assistant to the President for Federal Research Policy, Director of the Wallenberg Research Link, and Professor Emeritus of Photon Science at Stanford University. Dr. Bienenstock has served as President of the American Physical Society, Chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents, and Vice Provost and Dean of Research and Graduate Policy at Stanford University from 2003 to 2006. From 1997 to 2001, Dr. Bienenstock served as Associate Director for Science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). In the 20 years prior to joining OSTP, Dr. Bienenstock directed the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. From 1963 until 1997, he maintained an active research group in the general areas of solid-state physics, amorphous materials, and synchrotron radiation. Dr. Bienenstock received his B.S. and M.S. from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and his Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Dr. Francis Ali-Osman, Appointee for Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

Dr. Francis Ali-Osman is currently Professor of Surgery and Pathology and the Margaret Harris & David Silverman Professor of Neuro-Oncology Research at Duke University School of Medicine, a position he has held since 2003. He was also the Associate Director of Translational Research at the Duke University Cancer Center from 2003 to 2010. Dr. Ali-Osman served in a variety of roles at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center from 1990 to 2003, including Associate Professor and Chairman of the Department of Experimental Pediatrics, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Experimental Pediatrics, and as Professor and Director of Neurosurgery Research. From 1986 to 1990, Dr. Ali-Osman was an Assistant Professor and Director of Brain Tumor Research at the University of Washington School of Medicine. From 1985 to 1986, he was a Senior Investigator and Chief Scientific Officer at the Hipple Cancer Research Center, Wright State University School of Medicine. He was an Assistant Biochemist from 1982 to 1985 at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. Dr. Ali-Osman received a B.S., an M.Sc., and a D.Sc. from the Free University of Berlin.

Lawrence Gostin, Appointee for Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

Lawrence Gostin is the Faculty Director of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, as well as the Founding O'Neill Chair in Global Health Law at Georgetown Law. He is also a Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University and Professor of Public Health at The Johns Hopkins University and the Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Public Health Law and Human Rights. From 2004 to 2008, he was Associate Dean for Research at the Georgetown University Law Center. He served on the boards of the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) Board on Health Sciences Policy from 2007 to 2013, the National Academy of Science's Committee on Science, Technology, and Law from 2006 to 2010, and the IOM'S Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice from 1998 to 2006. Mr. Gostin was elected a lifetime Member of the National Academy of Medicine in 2000, and from 1993 to 1994, he was a Member of the President's Task Force on National Health Care Reform. Mr. Gostin received a B.A. from the State University of New York College at Brockport and a J.D. from Duke University School of Law.

Scott Hiebert, Appointee for Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

Scott Hiebert is the Hortense B. Ingram Chair in Cancer Research at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, where he runs the Hiebert Laboratory for Cancer Research that bears his name. He has been a Professor at Vanderbilt University's School of Medicine since 1997. From 1991 to 1996, he was a member of St. Jude Children's Hospital's Department of Tumor Cell Biology. From 1989 to 1991, he was a fellow and research associate at Duke University Medical Center. He received a B.S. from Bethel College and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

Electra D. Paskett, Appointee for Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

Electra D. Paskett is the Marion N. Rowley Professor of Cancer Research at The Ohio State University (OSU), a position she has held since 2010. Dr. Paskett also serves as Director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control in the College of Medicine, a Professor in the Division of Epidemiology in the College of Public Health, and an Associate Director for Population Sciences and Leader of the Cancer Control Program in the Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Paskett is also the Director of the Center for Cancer Health Equity at The James Cancer Hospital at OSU. Dr. Paskett was elected as a Fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2004, received the American Society of Preventive Oncology Distinguished Achievement Award in 2012, and the American Association of Cancer Research Distinguished Lecturer on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities Award in 2015. She is the Chair of the Health Disparities Committee, the Deputy Director of the Cancer Control Program of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, Deputy Editor of the journal Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, and Epidemiology Section Editor of the journal CANCER.  Previously, Dr. Paskett served as President of the American Society of Preventive Oncology, and Chair of the Cancer Control and Health Outcomes Committee of the Alliance. Dr. Paskett received her B.S. and M.S.P.H. from the University of Utah and a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of Washington.

Nancy Raab-Traub, Appointee for Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

Nancy Raab-Traub was a Professor at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, a position she has held since 1993. She previously held various positions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, including a Postdoctoral Fellow from 1980 to 1982, Research Assistant Professor from 1982 to 1985, Assistant Professor from 1985 to 1990, and Associate Professor from 1990 to 1993. In 1998, she received the University of North Carolina Distinguished Teaching Award for Post-Baccalaureate Instruction, and in 2006, she was awarded the Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Professor Award. Dr. Raab-Traub received a B.S. from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

Dr. Margaret R. Spitz, Appointee for Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

Dr. Margaret R. Spitz is a Professor at the Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine. Previously, she served on the faculty at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for 27 years, where she was the founding Chair of the Epidemiology Department and held the Olga Keith Wiess Distinguished Chair for Cancer Research. Dr. Spitz is the recipient of the AACR-American Cancer Society Award for Research Excellence in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention and the Association of American Cancer Institutes' Distinguished Scientist Award. She has served as Co-Chair of the National Cancer Institute's Lung Cancer Progress Review Group. Dr. Spitz received an M.B., B.Ch. from University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, and an M.P.H. from The University of Texas School of Public Health.