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:

•     Toni L. Griffin – Member, Commission of Fine Arts

•     Alex Krieger -- Member, Commission of Fine Arts

•     Jacqueline K. Barton – Member, President's Committee on the National Medal of Science

•     Anne Case – Member, President's Committee on the National Medal of Science

•         Merrill Friedman -- Member, President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities

•     Reuben Brigety – Member, National Security Education Board

•     Gene Shawcroft – Member, Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission

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

•     Christine Fox – Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Naval Academy

President Obama said, "These fine public servants bring a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their important roles. I look forward to working with them."

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

Toni L. Griffin, Appointee for Member, Commission of Fine Arts

Toni L. Griffin is Professor in Practice of Urban Planning at Harvard University Graduate School of Design and Founder of Urban Planning Design for the American City, positions she has held since 2016 and 2009, respectively. Previously, Ms. Griffin served as Professor of Architecture and Director of the J. Max Bond Center on Design for the Just City at City College of New York's Spitzer School of Architecture, a position she has held since 2011. She was Adjunct Associate Professor at Harvard University Graduate School of Design from 2009 to 2011, Director of the Division of Planning and Community Development for the City of Newark, New Jersey from 2007 to 2009, Vice President and Director of Design for the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation from 2005 to 2006, and Deputy Director for Revitalization Planning from 2000 to 2005 and for Neighborhood Planning from 2000 to 2002 in the D.C. Office of Planning. Ms. Griffin received a Loeb Fellowship from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Ms. Griffin received a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.

Alex Krieger, Appointee for Member, Commission of Fine Arts

Alex Krieger is a professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where he has taught since 1977. Mr. Krieger is a founding principal of the architecture and urban design firm Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, which is now part of NBBJ. He served as Chair of Harvard's Department of Urban Planning and Design from 1998 to 2004, as Director of Harvard's Urban Design Program from 1992 to 2000, and as Associate Chairman of the Department of Architecture from 1985 to 1989. Mr. Krieger was the Director of the National Endowment for the Arts Mayor's Institute on City Design from 1994 to 1998. He is a Design Peer Reviewer for the General Services Administration and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Mr. Krieger has served on the boards of the Boston Civic Design Commission, the Providence Capital Center Commission, and is the Founder and Co-Director of the Large City Planners Institute. He was first appointed to the Commission of Fine Arts in 2012. Mr. Krieger received a B.Arch. from Cornell University and an M.U.P. from Harvard University.

Dr. Jacqueline K. Barton, Appointee for Member, President's Committee on the National Medal of Science

Dr. Jacqueline K. Barton is the Arthur and Marian Hanisch Memorial Professor of Chemistry and Norman Davidson Leadership Chair of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), positions she has held since 1997 and 2009, respectively. Dr. Barton has worked as a Professor at Caltech since 1989. She was a member of the faculty at Columbia University from 1983 to 1989 and an Assistant Professor at Hunter College from 1980 to 1982. Dr. Barton received the Priestley Medal in 2015, the 2010 National Medal of Science, and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1991. She was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine in 2012, the National Academy of Sciences in 2002, and the American Philosophical Society in 1999. She has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Dow Chemical Company since 1993. Dr. Barton received an A.B. from Barnard College and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Dr. Anne Case, Appointee for Member, President's Committee on the National Medal of Science

Dr. Anne Case is the Alexander Stewart 1886 Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Dr. Case has been a faculty member at Princeton University's Department of Economics and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs since 1991, and currently serves as the Director of the Research Program in Development Studies. She serves on the National Institutes of Health's National Research Advisory Council on Child Health and Human Development, and on the board of the United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research. Dr. Case is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Fellow of the Econometric Society, and an affiliate of the Southern African Labour and Development Research Unit at the University of Cape Town. Dr. Case received a B.S. from the State University of New York at Albany, and an M.P.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University. 

Merrill Friedman, Appointee for Member, President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities

Merrill Friedman is Senior Director of Disability Policy Engagement at Anthem, Inc. and Vice President of Advocacy for Amerigroup, positons she has held since 2012 and 2007, respectively. Ms. Friedman has served on the Board of Directors for The Association for the Severely Handicapped since 2012. She served on the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary's Long-Term Care Reform Committee in 2010 and previously served on the board of American Association of People with Disabilities and the Michigan Statewide Independent Living Council. Ms. Friedman received a B.A. from Towson University.

Dr. Reuben Brigety, Appointee for Member, National Security Education Board

Dr. Reuben Brigety is Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University, a position he has held since 2015. Dr. Brigety was the U.S. Ambassador to the African Union from 2013 to 2015. He previously served at the Department of State as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs from 2011 to 2013 and as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration from 2009 to 2011. From 2008 to 2009, Dr. Brigety was Director of the Sustainable Security Program at the Center for American Progress. From 2007 to 2008, he was Special Assistant to the Assistant Administrator for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Dr. Brigety was an Assistant Professor of Government and Politics at George Mason University from 2004 to 2009 and an Assistant Professor of International Relations at American University from 2003 to 2004. From 2001 to 2003, he was a researcher for Human Rights Watch and from 1995 to 2000, he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Dr. Brigety received a B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy and an M.Phil. and Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.

Gene Shawcroft, Appointee for Member, Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission

Gene Shawcroft is General Manager/CEO of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District, a position he has held since 2014. Mr. Shawcroft has also served as Deputy General Manager, Assistant General Manager and Project Engineer in his time with the District since 1991. He also serves as a Board Member representing Utah on the Colorado River Water Users Association and on the National Water Resources Association. Mr. Shawcroft holds a B.S. and an M.S. from Brigham Young University.

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

Christine Fox, Designee for Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Naval Academy 

Christine Fox is the Assistant Director for Policy and Analysis at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, a position she has held since 2014. Ms. Fox served as Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense from 2013 to 2014 and as Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation at the Department of Defense from 2009 to 2013. She was President of the Center for Naval Analyses from 2005 to 2009 and a Research Analyst and Manager for the Center for Naval Analyses from 1981 to 2005. Ms. Fox received a B.S. and an M.S. from George Mason University.