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:

•      Kim J. Walker – Inspector General, Export-Import Bank of the United States

•      John M. Huff – Member, Board of Directors of the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers

•      Robert Suglia – Member, Board of Directors of the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers

•      Lori Wing-Heier – Member, Board of Directors of the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers

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

•      Babette Ceccotti – Member, Advisory Committee to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

•      Terry Guen – Member, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

•      Dorothy T. Lippert – Member, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

•      Jordan E. Tannenbaum – Member, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

•      John E. Frank – Member, Committee for the Preservation of the White House

•      Richard Kidd IV – Executive Director, Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council

•      General John P. Abizaid – Member, President's Intelligence Advisory Board

•      Mary B. DeRosa – Member, President's Intelligence Advisory Board

President Obama announced his appointment of the following individuals to key Administration posts:

•      Sylvia Trimble Bozeman – Member, President's Committee on the National Medal of Science

•      John T. Cacioppo – Member, President's Committee on the National Medal of Science

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 nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Kim J. Walker, Nominee for Inspector General, Export-Import Bank of the United States

Kim J. Walker is Of Counsel at the law firm of Faegre Baker Daniels. Mr. Walker joined the firm in 1990 as a founding partner of the Des Moines, Iowa office, a position he held through 2015. Mr. Walker worked as an associate then partner at Nyemaster Goode, P.C. from 1981 to 1990. From 1979 to 1981, he held a clerkship for the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Mr. Walker has served on the boards of various civic organizations in Des Moines, and currently is on the board of the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation and the Iowa Law School Foundation. Mr. Walker received a B.S. from the University of Iowa and a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law.

John M. Huff, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers

John M. Huff is the Director of the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration, a position he has held since 2009, and is the 2016 President of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Mr. Huff also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Washington University School of Law in Saint Louis and the Saint Louis University School of Law, positions he has held since 2012 and 2014, respectively. From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Huff was a Managing Director with The Swiss Re Group. Prior to that role, Mr. Huff was a Senior Vice President with GE Insurance Solutions from 1998 to 2006. From 1992 to 1998, Mr. Huff was first an associate then partner during his time at the law firm, Field, Gentry and Benjamin P.C. Starting in 2010, Mr. Huff served two terms as a non-voting member of the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council until 2014. Mr. Huff received a B.S. from the Harrison College of Business at Southeast Missouri State University, an M.B.A. from Saint Louis University, and a J.D. from the Washington University School of Law.

Robert Suglia, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers

Robert Suglia is Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Amica Mutual Insurance Company (Amica), a position he has held since 2008. Since first joining the company in 1994, Mr. Suglia has held multiple positions including, Vice President and General Counsel from 2006 to 2008; Senior Assistant Vice President and Assistant General Counsel from 2004 to 2006; Assistant Vice President and Assistant General Counsel from 2001 to 2004; Assistant General Counsel from 1996 to 2001; Counsel from 1994 to 1996. Concurrently, from 2008 to 2014, Mr. Suglia was appointed to a seat on the Commonwealth Automobile Insurers Governing Committee. He has represented Amica on insurance industry boards and trade association committees through Amica's membership in the Property and Casualty Insurers Association of America and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies. Mr. Suglia received a B.A. from Rhode Island College and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law.

Lori Wing-Heier, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers
Lori Wing-Heier is the Director of the Division of Insurance of the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development for the State of Alaska, a position she has held since 2014. From 2004 to 2013, she served as the Director of Risk Management for the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. From 1988 to 2004, she served as a Senior Vice President for Marsh USA. From 1986 to 1988, she was an Account Executive for Aon Corporation's Rollins Burdick Hunter. Previously, she was a Customer Insurance Representative for Homestate Insurance Brokers from 1985 to 1986. From 1984 to 1985, she was a Customer Insurance Representative for Jay Riggs Insurance Agency. Ms. Wing-Heier received an A.D. from North Central Michigan College.

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

Babette Ceccotti, Appointee for Member, Advisory Committee to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Babette Ceccotti is a retired partner from the law firm Cohen, Weiss and Simon LLP. Ms. Ceccotti was a partner from 1990 through 2014 and an associate in the firm's employee benefits practice and bankruptcy practice from 1983 through 1989. Ms. Ceccotti was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the National Bankruptcy Review Commission from 1995 to 1997. She served on the American Bankruptcy Institute's Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11 from 2012 to 2014 and became a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference in 2014. Ms. Ceccotti received a B.A. from Clark University and a J.D. from New York Law School.

Terry Guen, Appointee for Member, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

Terry Guen is President and Design Principal of Terry Guen Design Associates, Inc., positions she has held since 1997. Ms. Guen is currently Master Landscape Architect of Millennium Park in Chicago, a position she has held since 2000. She was Lead Landscape Architect and Urban Designer for the Charles River Basin Plan in Boston from 1991 to 1992 and the West Side Waterfront - Hudson River Park Plan in New York City from 1989 to 1990. Ms. Guen served as a member of the Design Faculty at the Illinois Institute of Technology Program of Landscape Architecture from 2009 to 2012. She was first appointed to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation in 2011 and she was a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2009. Ms. Guen received a B.A. from Bowdoin College and an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Dorothy T. Lippert, Appointee for Member, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

Dr. Dorothy T. Lippert is a Supervisory Archaeologist in the Repatriation Office of the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution, a position she has held since 2001. Dr. Lippert worked as the Education Coordinator for the John P. McGovern Hall of the Americas at the Houston Museum of Natural Science from 1999 to 2001. She formerly served as a member on the World Archaeological Congress Executive from 2003 to 2013 and the Board of Directors for the Society for American Archaeology from 2006 to 2009. Dr. Lippert was first appointed to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation in 2011. Dr. Lippert received a B.A. from Rice University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin.

Jordan E. Tannenbaum, Appointee for Member, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

Jordan E. Tannenbaum is Chief Development Officer at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, a position he has held since 2004. Mr. Tannenbaum served in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the U.S. Army Reserves from 1983 to 2010. He was Vice President of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life from 1999 to 2004 and Executive Director for Resources Development at the National Trust for Historic Preservation from 1996 to 1999. Mr. Tannenbaum also worked in senior development positions at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania from 1993 to 1996, Georgetown University from 1988 to 1993, and B'nai B'rith International from 1986 to 1988. He served as Chief of the Eastern Division of Project Review for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation from 1972 to 1982. Mr. Tannenbaum was appointed to the Fairfax County History Commission in 2016 and was awarded the Legion of Merit by the U.S. Army in 2010. Mr. Tannenbaum received a B.A. from Brandeis University and a J.D. from American University.

John E. Frank, Appointee for Member, Committee for the Preservation of the White House

John E. Frank is Microsoft's Vice President for European Union Government Affairs, a position he has held since 2015. From 2002 to 2015, Mr. Frank served as Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, and Chief of Staff in Microsoft's Legal and Corporate Affairs Department. He worked as Associate General Counsel for Microsoft Europe, Middle East, and Africa from 1996 to 2002 and Corporate Attorney for Microsoft Europe from 1994 to 1996. Mr. Frank was an Associate Attorney with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom from 1988 to 1994 and with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP from 1985 to 1987. He is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Seattle Art Museum and served as Board Chair from 2013 to 2015. Mr. Frank received an A.B. from Princeton University and a J.D. from Columbia Law School.

Richard Kidd IV, Appointee for Executive Director, Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council

Richard Kidd IV serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy & Sustainability, a position he has held since 2010. From 2008 to 2010, he served as a Program Manager for the Federal Energy Management Program at the Department of Energy. Previously, Mr. Kidd held various roles at the Department of State's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs from 2001 to 2008, including Special Assistant, Office Director, and Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary. From 1999 to 2001 he was a Program Manager for the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, and from 1993 to 1999 he was a Country Director, Operators Manager, and Emergency Logistics Officer for the United Nations. Additionally, Mr. Kidd served as an Infantry Captain and Officer in the U.S. Army from 1986 to 1991. Mr. Kidd received a B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and an M.P.P.M. from the Yale School of Management.

General John P. Abizaid, Appointee for Member, President's Intelligence Advisory Board

General John P. Abizaid is the Founder and Senior Partner at JPA Partners, LLC, positions he has held since 2007. General Abizaid also serves as Distinguished Chair Emeritus at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center and sits on the board of directors of RPM International and USAA. From 2007 to 2010, General Abizaid was the first Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. General Abizaid is a retired U.S. Army four-star general and served as Commander of the United States Central Command from 2003 to 2007 and as Deputy Commander from 2002 to 2003. From 2001 to 2002, he served on the Joint Staff as Director and as Director of Strategic Plans and Policy from 2000 to 2001. General Abizaid was the Commanding General of the First Infantry Division headquartered in Wurzburg, Germany from 1999 to 2000. He was the 66th Commandant of Cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point from 1997 to 1999. General Abizaid was an Olmstead Scholar at the University of Jordan. He received a B.S. from the United States Military Academy and an M.A. from Harvard University.

Mary B. DeRosa, Appointee for Member, President's Intelligence Advisory Board

Mary B. DeRosa is a Distinguished Visitor from Practice at the Georgetown University Law Center, a position she has held since 2012. In 2011, Ms. DeRosa served as an Alternate Representative of the United States to the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. She previously served at the White House as Deputy Counsel to the President and National Security Council Legal Adviser from 2009 to 2011. Ms. DeRosa was Chief Counsel for National Security for the Senate Judiciary Committee from 2007 to 2008. She was a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies from 2002 to 2007, Special Assistant to the President and National Security Council Legal Adviser from 2000 to 2001, National Security Council Deputy Legal Adviser from 1997 to 2000, and Special Counsel to the General Counsel at the Department of Defense from 1995 to 1997. Earlier in her career, Ms. DeRosa spent several years in private practice at Arnold & Porter LLP and clerked for the Honorable Richard Cardamone of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Ms. DeRosa received a B.A. from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from The George Washington University.

President Obama announced his appointment of the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Dr. Sylvia Trimble Bozeman, Appointed as Member, President's Committee on the National Medal of Science

Dr. Sylvia Trimble Bozeman is Professor Emerita at Spelman College, a position she has held since 2013. Dr. Bozeman was previously a Professor of Mathematics from 1991 to 2013. Dr. Bozeman also served at Spelman College as Associate Provost for Science and Mathematics from 1998 to 2002. She joined the faculty of the Department of Mathematics in 1974, and served as Department Chair from 1982 to 1993. Dr. Bozeman co-founded the Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education program in 1998 and served on the executive boards of the Mathematical Association of America, American Mathematical Society, Association for Women in Mathematics, and National Association of Mathematicians. Dr. Bozeman was named a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society in 2013 and was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2010. She received a Lifetime Service Award from the National Association of Mathematicians in 2012. Dr. Bozeman received a B.S. from Alabama A&M University, an M.A. from Vanderbilt University, and a Ph.D. from Emory University.

Dr. John T. Cacioppo, Appointed as Member, President's Committee on the National Medal of Science

Dr. John T. Cacioppo is the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor at The University of Chicago, a position he has held since 1999. Dr. Cacioppo is also the Founding Director of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience and the Founding Faculty Director of the Arete Initiative at The University of Chicago. He has previously held teaching positions at The Ohio State University, University of Iowa, and University of Notre Dame. Dr. Cacioppo is a member of the Society of Experimental Psychologists, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Society of Experimental Social Psychologists. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association, and the Royal Society of Arts. Dr. Cacioppo was first appointed to the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science in 2014. Dr. Cacioppo received a B.S. from the University of Missouri, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from The Ohio State University.