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:

•      Richard Buckius – Deputy Director, National Science Foundation

•      T.F. Scott Darling III – Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Department of Transportation

•      Linda Etim – Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Africa, United States Agency for International Development

•      Laura S.H. Holgate – United States Representative to the Vienna Office of the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador and United States Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, with the rank of Ambassador, Department of State

•      Marcel Lettre – Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, Department of Defense

•      Patrick J. Murphy – Under Secretary of the Army, Department of Defense

•      Cherry A. Murray – Director of the Office of Science, Department of Energy

•      Robert D. Reischauer – Member, Board of Trustees of the Social Security Trust Funds

President Obama said, "I am grateful that these talented and dedicated individuals have agreed to take on these important roles and devote their talents to serving the American people. I look forward to working with them."

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

Dr. Richard Buckius, Nominee for Deputy Director, National Science Foundation

Dr. Richard Buckius serves as Chief Operating Officer at the National Science Foundation (NSF) since October 2014 and Senior Science Advisor since June 2014. He also serves as Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, a position he has held since 2008. From 2008 to 2014, Dr. Buckius served as Vice President for Research at Purdue University. Prior to that role, he was Assistant Director and Directorate for Engineering at the NSF from 2006 to 2008. From 2004 to 2005, Dr. Buckius served as NSF's Division Director for Chemical and Transport Systems. Previously, Dr. Buckius served in variety of academic and research roles of increasing responsibility at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1975 to 2004, including Head of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering from 1998 to 2004, as a Richard W. Kritzer Professor from 1992 to 1997, and as an Associate Vice Chancellor for Research from 1988 to 1991. Dr. Buckius received a B.S, M.S., and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

T.F. Scott Darling III, Nominee for Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Department of Transportation

T.F. Scott Darling III is the Chief Counsel for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) at the Department of Transportation, a role he has held since 2012. Mr. Darling also serves as the Acting Administrator of FMCSA, a role he held from August 2014 to March 2015. Previously, he was the Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant General Counsel for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) from 2009 to 2012. From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Darling served as the Environmental and Land Use Counsel for the MBTA. He worked for the Conservation Law Foundation/CLF Ventures as the Director of Greater Boston Institute and Staff Attorney from 2003 to 2005. From 2001 to 2003, Mr. Darling served as the part-time Executive Director for Freedom House in Dorchester, Boston. Mr. Darling received a B.A. from Clark University, an M.P.P from Tufts University, and a J.D. from Suffolk University.

Linda Etim, Nominee for Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Africa, United States Agency for International Development

Linda Etim is currently Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Africa at the United States Agency for International Development, a position she has held since January 2012. From 2009 to 2012, Ms. Etim served on the National Security Council staff as Director for African Affairs. From 2007 to 2009, Ms. Etim worked as a Senior Intelligence Officer for the Central Intelligence Agency. Prior to this, Ms. Etim worked at the Defense Intelligence Agency as an Intelligence Analyst from 2004 to 2007 and as an Intelligence Liaison from 2003 to 2004. She was an Intelligence Analyst for the Joint Staff from 2002 to 2003. Ms. Etim received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin.

Laura S. H. Holgate, Nominee for United States Representative to the Vienna Office of the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador, and United States Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, with the rank of Ambassador, Department of State

Laura S. H. Holgate is Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Weapons of Mass Destruction, Terrorism, and Threat Reduction on the National Security Council staff, a position she has held since 2009. From 2001 to 2009, she was Vice President for Russia and the Newly Independent States at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Ms. Holgate served as Director of the Office of Fissile Material Disposition at the Department of Energy from 1998 to 2001. She served at the Department of Defense as Special Coordinator and Director for Cooperative Threat Reduction from 1995 to 1998 and as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy from 1993 to 1995. Prior to that, she was a Project Coordinator at the Center for Science and International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University from 1990 to 1992. Ms. Holgate received an A.B. from Princeton University and an S.M. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Marcel Lettre, Nominee for Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, Department of Defense

Marcel Lettre is the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, a position he has held since 2013. He has served concurrently as Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence since May 2015. From 2011 to 2013, Mr. Lettre served as Special Assistant to Secretaries of Defense Chuck Hagel, Leon Panetta, and Robert Gates. From 2009 to 2011, Mr. Lettre was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs. From 2005 to 2009, he served as Democratic Leader Harry Reid's Senior Defense and Intelligence Advisor and later as his Senior National Security Advisor. From 2002 to 2005, Mr. Lettre served as a Professional Staff Member for the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He was an Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton from 2000 to 2001. Mr. Lettre served as a Senior Policy Analyst for the Deutch Commission to Assess the Organization of the Federal Government to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction from 1998 to 1999. He was a Senior Staff Assistant in the American University Office of the President from 1995 to 1997 and a Junior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace from 1994 to 1995. Mr. Lettre received a B.A. from the University of the South and an M.P.P. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Patrick J. Murphy, Nominee for Under Secretary of the Army, Department of Defense

Patrick J. Murphy is a Partner at the law firm of Fox Rothschild LLP in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. He has also served on the Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy since 2011. As the first Iraq War veteran elected to the U.S. Congress, Mr. Murphy represented the 8th District of Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011. He served on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Appropriations Committee. From 2003 to 2004, he was deployed to Iraq as a paratrooper with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division, where he earned the Bronze Star for Service. In 2001, Mr. Murphy volunteered for overseas deployment and was deployed to Bosnia in 2002. Prior to that, he served as a commissioned officer in the Army Reserve from 1996 to 2000. Mr. Murphy received a B.A. from King's College and a J.D. from Widener University School of Law.

Dr. Cherry A. Murray, Nominee for Director of the Office of Science, Department of Energy

Dr. Cherry A. Murray is currently Benjamin Peirce Professor of Technology and Public Policy and Professor of Physics at Harvard University. She was the Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University from 2009 to 2014. Dr. Murray served as Principal Associate Director for Science and Technology at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 2007 to 2009 and as Deputy Director for Science and Technology from 2004 to 2007. Dr. Murray held a number of positions at Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, formerly AT&T Bell Laboratories and previously Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. from 1978 to 2004. She first started as a Member of Technical Staff within the Physical Research Laboratory and eventually finished her tenure as Physical Sciences and Wireless Research Senior Vice President. Dr. Murray was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1999, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001, and the National Academy of Engineering in 2002. Dr. Murray was appointed to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling in 2010. She was also awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by the White House in 2014. Dr. Murray received a B.S. and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Robert D. Reischauer, Nominee for Member, Board of Trustees of the Social Security Trust Funds

Dr. Robert D. Reischauer is currently a Distinguished Institute Fellow and President Emeritus of The Urban Institute, a position he has held since March 2012. He was also a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Social Security Trust Funds from 2010 to 2015. From 2000 to 2012, Dr. Reischauer served as the President of The Urban Institute. Dr. Reischauer served as a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution twice, from 1995 to 2000 and from 1986 to 1989, as well as a Research Associate from 1970 to 1975. Dr. Reischauer was the Director of the Congressional Budget Office from 1989 to 1995. From 1975 through 1979, Dr. Reischauer held other roles within the Congressional Budget Office, serving as the Special Assistant to the Director from 1975 to 1977, Assistant Director for Human Resources and Community Development from 1977 to 1979, and Deputy Director from 1979 to 1981. Dr. Reischauer worked as a Teaching Assistant, then Instructor, at Columbia University from 1968 to 1970. He held the title of consultant at both the RAND Corporation from 1968 to 1969 and Harvard University's Center for Studies in Education and Development in 1965. Dr. Reischauer is currently a member of several boards, including the Academy of Political Science, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Dr. Reischauer received an A.B. from Harvard College, an M.I.A from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University.