President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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

• Ron McCray, Member, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
• Arnold F. Stancell, Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation

The President also announced his intent to appoint several individuals to the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.  Their biographies can be found below.

President Obama said, “I am grateful that these impressive individuals have chosen to dedicate their talents to serving the American people at this important time for our country.  I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

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

Ron McCray, Nominee for Member, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
Ron McCray is a private investor and corporate director. He served as Chief Administrative Officer at Nike, Inc. from 2007 to 2009 and Senior Vice President for Law and Government Affairs at Kimberly-Clark Corporation from 1987 to 2007. He practiced corporate, securities and finance law at Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York City from 1983 to 1985 and Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Dallas, Texas from 1985 to 1987. Mr. McCray serves on the board of directors of A.H. Belo, where he chairs the compensation committee.  He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Cornell University, is a member of the Visiting Committee of the Harvard Law School and is a limited partner owner of Boston Championship Basketball, LLC.  Mr. McCray earned a B.A from Cornell University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Arnold F. Stancell, Nominee for Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation
Arnold F. Stancell is Emeritus Professor and Turner Leadership Chair at the Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.  His faculty appointment followed a 31-year career at Mobil Oil where he was Vice-President of the U.S. oil and natural gas business, and then Vice-President of oil and natural gas in Europe, the Middle East and Australia.  Prior to his executive service at Mobil, Dr. Stancell spent the first ten years of his career in research, where he was awarded nine patents in the field of polymer processes and ultrathin membranes.  In 1997, he was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering, received the American Institute of Chemical Engineers National Award for Chemical Engineering Practice, and in 1992 was named Black Engineer of the Year.  Dr. Stancell earned his Bachelor's degree from the City College of New York and his Doctor of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1962, where he was subsequently offered tenure as professor.

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

Matt Desch, Appointee for Member, President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee
Matt Desch is the CEO of Iridium Communications Inc. Before joining Iridium, Mr. Desch served as the CEO of the New Jersey-based Telcordia Technologies, Inc., a supplier of software and services for the telecommunications industry.  From 1987 to 2000, Mr. Desch worked for Nortel Networks, where he held various positions including President of Global Service Providers and was responsible for Nortel's business in Europe and Asia. Mr. Desch began his career in software development with AT&T Bell Laboratories, which became Lucent Technologies. He has a B.S. in Computer Science from The Ohio State University and an M.B.A. from University of Chicago.

Joseph E. Fergus, Appointee for Member, President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee
Dr. Joseph E. Fergus is founder and CEO of Communication Technologies, Inc. (COMTek), a telecommunications and information technology services company. Dr. Fergus is also the founder and CEO of nexGrenTM, a green technology company that provides products and solutions for the protection of personal data. Dr. Fergus worked with AT&T Bell Laboratories from 1982 to 1990.  He is a Vietnam-era veteran of the US Navy, serving from 1974 to 1978 and received his Doctorate of Humane Letters in Science from Norfolk State University in 2004. He holds a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from Norfolk State University.

Larissa Herda, Appointee for Member, President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee
Larissa Herda is currently the Chair CEO and President of tw telecom inc. Prior to this position, Ms. Herda was the company’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing from 1997 to 1998. Under Ms. Herda’s direction, tw telecom inc. has expanded its broadband network footprint; built a national IP backbone recognized as one of the top 10 most connected IP networks in the world; and introduced comprehensive data, voice, internet and national Ethernet products. In addition to her work at tw telecom inc., Ms. Herda serves on a number of boards including the community advisory board of SungateKids, a local children’s advocacy center helping abused children and their families. Ms. Herda is a graduate of the University of Colorado.