President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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

• Eduardo Arriola –Member, Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation
• Sara Aviel– United States Alternate Executive Director, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
• Daniel Becker– Member, Board of Directors of the State Justice Institute
• Mark Francis Brzezinski– Ambassador to Sweden, Department of State
• Dana Bilyeu -Member, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
• Steven H. Cohen - Member, Board of Trustees of the Harry S Truman Scholarship Foundation
• Bert DiClemente -Director, Amtrak Board of Directors
• James Hannah -Member, Board of Directors of the State Justice Institute
• David Jones -Member, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
• Drew R. McCoy -  Member, Board of Trustees of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation
• Adam Namm -Ambassador to the Republic of Ecuador, Department of State
• Wenona Singel - Member, Advisory Board of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
• Mary B. Verner – Member, Board of Directors of theNational Institute of Building Sciences
   

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

• Jean Bailey – Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Susan M. Dimarco Johnson – Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Sonya M. Halpern – Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Mattie McFadden-Lawson – Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Melissa Moss – Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Deborah Dozier Potter – Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Kristin Gatchel Replogle – Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Jennifer Scully-Lerner – Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Ellen Schapps Richman – Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Mary Rouse-Terlevich – Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Ellen Susman – Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Mona Sutphen - Member, President's Intelligence Advisory Board
• Harry Wilson - Member, Advisory Committee to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
• Philip Zelikow - Member, President's Intelligence Advisory Board

President Obama said, “I am confident that these outstanding men and women will greatly serve the American people in their new roles and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”

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

Eduardo Arriola, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation
Eduardo Arriola is the Chairman of the Board of Apollo Bank and the co-Founder of Inktel Direct, a provider of business solutions for direct marketing. He currently serves on the FBA-FDIC Advisory Board, the Florida Bankers Association BancServ Board of Directors and is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization.  Mr. Arriola is a past president and board member of EO, a network of entrepreneurs, and has previously served on the board of directors of Kristi House and City Year Miami. In 2011, he was awarded the Horizon Award by the Florida Bankers Association, in recognition of his commitment to the banking industry.  Mr. Arriola is a graduate of Boston College.

Sara Aviel, Nominee for United States Alternate Executive Director, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Sara Aviel currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner.  In that capacity, she works on a range of issues including development policy, G-20 summits, the Strategic and Economic Dialogue with China, and formulating a response to the global financial crisis.  Prior to joining the Administration, Ms. Aviel was on the leadership team for Root Capital, a social investment fund that provides financing to small and medium enterprises in developing countries.  Previously, she was a Strategic Innovations Advisor at Mercy Corps, responsible for working directly with the Board of Directors to facilitate corporate partnerships and long-term strategic initiatives.  Ms. Aviel also served as a Lecturer on international development and humanitarian relief at Yale College.  She previously worked for CARE, both in Afghanistan and throughout Africa.  Ms. Aviel holds an M.B.A, as well as M.A. and B.A. degrees in Political Science, from Yale University.

Daniel Becker, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the State Justice Institute
Daniel Becker has served as State Court Administrator at the Administrative Office of the Courts for the State of Utah since 1995.  In that capacity, he is responsible to the Utah Supreme Court and Utah Judicial Council for the administration of the state court system.  He was appointed by President Barack Obama to the Board of Directors of the State Justice Institute in 2010 and presently serves as Vice-Chair.  From 1984 to 1995, Mr. Becker worked for the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, serving in the positions of: Deputy Director (1993-1995); Court Services Administrator (1986-1993); and Assistant to the Director (1984-1986).  He also held the positions of Trial Court Administrator for the Fourteenth Judicial District of North Carolina, and Assistant Director of Operations for the Georgia Administrative Office of the Courts.  Mr. Becker was the recipient of the National Center for State Courts’ 2001 Distinguished Service Award and the 2006 Warren E. Burger Award for Excellence in Judicial Administration.  He holds a B.A. and M.P.A. from Florida Atlantic University.

Mark Francis Brzezinski, Nominee for Ambassador to Sweden, Department of State
Mark Francis Brzezinski is currently a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of McGuireWoods, where he specializes in anti-corruption law.  Prior to his current role, Mr. Brzezinski served as a Director on the National Security Council from 1999 to 2001, focusing on issues relating to the Balkans, Russia, Eurasia and Southeast Europe.  From 1996 to 1999, he was an attorney at Hogan & Hartson.  From 1991 to 1993, he worked in Poland as a Fulbright Scholar.  Mr. Brzezinski is a member of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and the Council on Foreign Relations.  He holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College, a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and a Doctorate from Oxford University.

Dana K. Bilyeu, Nominee for Member, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
Dana K. Bilyeu was first appointed to the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board in June, 2010. She is also the Executive Officer of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Nevada (NVPERS), serving in that position since 2003. Ms. Bilyeu began her employment with NVPERS in 1995, in the position of Operations Officer, overseeing all aspects of benefit administration for the System.  Preceding her employment at NVPERS, Mrs. Bilyeu was the System's legal counsel in the Office of the Nevada Attorney General. Mrs. Bilyeu is a member of the executive committee of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, and is a member of the National Council on Teacher Retirement, the National Conference of Public Employee Retirement Systems, and the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys. She also serves on the Public Employees’ Board of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. Mrs. Bilyeu previously served as a member of the Social Security Advisory Board from 2007 through September 2010. She received her J.D. from California Western School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Arizona.

Steven H. Cohen, Nominee for Member, Board of Trustees of the Harry S Truman Scholarship Foundation
Steven H. Cohen is the founder and President of the Cohen Law Group as well as a co-founder of the Whistleblower Action Network.  Mr. Cohen is also an adjunct faculty member at the Northwestern Law School in Chicago, teaching clinical trial advocacy.  He serves on the Board of Trustees for Beloit College, the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and the TCS Education System, and the Mikva Challenge Foundation, a Chicago based organization that engages Chicago area high school students in local and national political elections.  Mr. Cohen received his Bachelor’s degree from Beloit College and his law degree from the Northwestern University School of Law.

Bert DiClemente, Nominee for Director, Amtrak Board of Directors
Bert DiClementewas originally appointed to the Amtrak Board in June 2010. Mr. DiClemente recently retired as the Vice President of CB Richard Ellis, Inc., a position he had served in since 2003. Previously, he worked as Director of Insignia/ESG (1998-2003) and as Associate Director at Jackson Cross & Associates (1997-1998).  He was responsible for the leasing and selling of commercial real estate and represented a number of Fortune 500 Companies.  Mr. DiClemente also served as State Director for then United States Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr., from 1977 to 1997.  He received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Delaware.

Chief Justice Jim Hannah, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the State Justice Institute
Chief Justice Jim Hannah is currently serving as Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court.  He was first elected as an Associate Justice in 2000 and re-elected as Chief Justice in 2004 and 2008.  He was appointed by President Barack Obama to the Board of Directors of the State Justice Institute in 2010. Prior to serving on the Arkansas Supreme Court, he served as a Chancery/Probate Judge in the 17th Judicial District from 1979 to 1999.  Chief Justice Hannah maintained a private law practice for ten and a half years before he was elected to the trial bench. While in private practice, he also served as the city attorney for Searcy, Arkansas, as city attorney for several communities in White County, as a city judge for Kensett, Arkansas and Rosebud, Arkansas, as deputy prosecuting attorney for Woodruff County, and as the White County Juvenile Judge.  Chief Justice Hannah has served as President on the Board of the Arkansas Judicial Council.  He has served as Chairman of the Arkansas Judicial Resources Assessment Committee, Legislative Committee, and Retirement Committee.  He has also served on the board of the Conference of Chief Justices and is currently serving as Co-Chair of the Committee of Families and Courts.  In addition, he sits on the U.S. Supreme Court Judicial Conference Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction and the Arkansas Supreme Court Committees on Technology, Child Support, and Foster Care.  Chief Justice Hannah received a B.S.B.A. from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and a J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law.

David Avren Jones, Nominee for Member, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
David Avren Jones established D.A. Jones LLC, an independent consulting firm and trustee for a number of families and their entities, in 2004.  Before the founding of his own firm, Mr. Jones was a managing director and the senior client executive at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management in New York.  His other prior experiences include running his own investment advisory firm, Bannister Capital Management, and serving as CEO of Citicorp Securities Markets, Inc. in New York, where he was responsible for the firm’s fixed income and foreign exchange businesses for North America. Mr. Jones also worked at Goldman Sachs as the fixed income trading manager in London.  Mr. Jones has served as a member of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee, as Vice Chairman of the Primary Dealers Committee and as a director of the Public Securities Association.  He is a past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Jewish Home Lifecare System in New York and serves as the Chairman of Fund for the Aged, Inc.  Mr. Jones is a graduate of Princeton University and the Harvard Business School.

Drew R. McCoy, Nominee for Member, Board of Trustees of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation
Drew R. McCoy is the Jacob and Frances Hiatt Professor of History at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and a specialist in American political and intellectual history from the Revolution to the Civil War.  His numerous published works include The Elusive Republic:  Political Economy in Jeffersonian America, a general study of political economy in Revolutionary and Early National America and The Last of the Fathers:  James Madison and the Republican Legacy, a partial biography of James Madison that focuses on President Madison's retirement.  Dr. McCoy received an A.B. from Cornell University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.

Adam E. Namm, Nominee for Ambassador to the Republic of Ecuador, Department of State
Adam E. Namm is the Director of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) at the State Department.  A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister Counselor, Mr. Namm joined the Department of State in 1987.  His most recent overseas assignment was as Management Counselor in Islamabad, with prior tours in Bogota, Dhahran, and Santo Domingo.  His domestic assignments have included Executive Assistant in the Bureau of Administration, Director of the Office of Allowances, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Management, and both Desk Officer and Post Management Officer in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.  Mr. Namm holds an A.B. magna cum laude in International Relations from Brown University and an M.S. in National Security Strategy from the National War College.

Wenona Singel, Nominee for Member, Advisory Board of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
Wenona Singel is an Assistant Professor of Law at Michigan State University College of Law and the Associate Director of the Indigenous Law & Policy Center, where she teaches courses in the fields of federal Indian law and natural resources law.  Ms. Singel is also an Associate Appellate Justice for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the former Chief Appellate Judge for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.  Previously, she was an Assistant Professor at the University of North Dakota School of Law and a Fellow with the Northern Plains Indian Law Center.  Before teaching, Ms. Singel worked in private practice with firms that included Kanji & Katzen, P.L.L.C. in Ann Arbor, MI, and Dickinson Wright in Bloomfield Hills, MI.  She served as a member of the Economic Development Commission of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and as General Counsel for the Grand Traverse Resort, a tribally-owned resort in northern Michigan.  She is an enrolled member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.  Ms. Singel received an A.B. from Harvard College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Mary B. Verner, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the National Institute of Building Sciences
Mary Verner is the Mayor of Spokane, Washington.  Mayor Verner served on the Spokane City Council before she was elected mayor.  She has also held a number of professional positions on behalf of the Native American community: she was a manager of natural resources with the Spokane Tribe of Indians, and she served as Executive Director of the Upper Columbia United Tribes.  Mayor Verner serves on a wide variety of local boards and regional associations, and has led her City’s programs to retrofit residential, commercial and public buildings to be energy-efficient.  She received a B.A. from Davidson College, an M.A. from Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and a J.D. from Gonzaga University School of Law.

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

Dr. Jean Bailey, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Dr. Jean Bailey is a Graduate Professor of Human Development in the School of Education at Howard University.  Additionally, she directs the Center for Drug Abuse Research and chairs the Howard University Republic of South Africa Project. Dr. Bailey has devoted her professional career to optimizing developmental outcomes for children and families.  She currently serves on the Board of InventNow.Org and the National African American Drug Policy Coalition.  Dr. Bailey received her B.S. from Southern University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Tulane University.

Cynthia Butler-McIntyre, Appointee for Member, Board of Trustees of the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation
Cynthia Butler-McIntyre is the Director of Human Resources in the Jefferson Parish Public School System in Louisiana and the 24th National President of Delta Sigma Theta, a public service organization. She is a National Board Member of the National Council of Negro Women, a past National Board Member of the National Alliance of Black School Educators, and the Secretary of the Louisiana State Association of School Personnel Administrators.  Ms. Butler-McIntyre holds an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree from Christian Bible College of Louisiana, an M.A. in Educational Administration from the University of New Orleans, and a B.A. in Early Childhood Education from Dillard University.

Susan M. DiMarco Johnson, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Susan M. DiMarco Johnson is a dentist, who worked in private practice until 1998.  Ms. DiMarco Johnson is an active volunteer in numerous civic and arts related activities in New Jersey, New York, and Washington, DC.  Currently, she serves on the board of EarthEcho International, an environmental education non-profit organization.  She previously served on the Board of Directors of the Montclair Art Museum and as Vice Chair of the corporate board of the Covenant House, a privately-funded childcare agency in New York City.  Ms. DiMarco Johnson received her degree in Dentistry from Georgetown Dental School.

Sonya M. Halpern, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Sonya M. Halpern is a former advertising sales and marketing executive who has worked for ESPN, Inc., The Walt Disney Company, and Cox Enterprises.  She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Black Arts Festival and has served as Co-Chair of the Festival’s annual gala for the past three years. Earlier this year, Ms. Halpern was appointed to the Atlanta Judicial Commission by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.  She holds a B.A. in Mass Communications from the University of Massachusetts and an M.B.A. from the University of Hartford.

Mattie McFadden-Lawson, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Mattie McFadden-Lawson is the President of MML Design & Consulting Group, an interior and exterior design company based in Los Angeles.  Mrs. McFadden-Lawson currently serves on the Board of the Music Center/Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County and is the Board Chair of Center Dance Arts/Music Center.  She also serves as a founding member of the Dance Council of the Colburn School, Vice Chair of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and Board Member of the Ford Theater Foundation of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.  Ms. McFadden-Lawson received a B.A. from Brooklyn College, an M.A. from Howard University, and a, M.P.A. from Harvard University. 

Melissa Moss,  Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Melissa Mossis the President of Moss Advisors, based in Washington, DC.  From 2002 until 2009 she was a Senior Vice President at Capital Guardian Trust Company and previously served as the CEO of Women’s Consumer Network.  Ms. Moss is currently on the board of the National Shakespeare Theatre, The National Symphony Orchestra, and Business Forward. She has also served on the boards of Wolf Trap, First Book, the National Building Museum, and the National Partnership for Women and Families.  She received her B.A. from UCLA and a M.P.A. from Harvard University.

Deborah Dozier Potter, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Deborah Dozier Potter is President of Trail Inc., a hotel and real estate development firm.  Prior to this, Ms. Potter was an actors' agent and started her own talent agency and management company.  Her memoir, Let Buster Lead: Discovering Love, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Self-assurance, was published in 2007 and she is a volunteer faculty member of The New Mexico School for the Arts.  Mrs. Potter previously served on the President's Advisory Council on the Arts from 1993 until 2001.

Kristin Gatchel Replogle, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Kristin Gatchel Replogle is President of the Replogle Family Foundation.  Ms. Replogle currently serves on the board of directors for WakeMed Hospital, North Carolina State University’s Institute for Nonprofits, SAFEchild, and the Girl Scouts.  From 1990 to 1995, she was a speech pathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she specialized in traumatic brain injury and was responsible for training graduate students.  Ms. Replogle received her B.S. and M.A. in speech language-pathology from Miami University of Ohio. 

Ellen Schapps Richman, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Ellen Schapps Richman is an adjunct professor of marketing at Columbia Graduate School of Business.  Prior to this, Ms. Schapps Richman was an associate adjunct professor of Marketing at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business.  She is on the Board of the United Way of Greenwich and current Chairman and former President of UJA Federation of Greenwich.  Ms. Schapps Richman received a B.A. from Skidmore College and an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Molly Rouse-Terlevich, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Molly Rouse-Terlevich is as a Trustee of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Museum of Women in the Arts and of the Lewa Downs Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya and is a former Trustee of the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Tyler Arboretum.  In addition, Ms. Rouse-Terlevich is involved in fundraising projects with numerous organizations including the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Baldwin School and the University of Pennsylvania.  Ms. Rouse-Terlevich received a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Masters of Education from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jennifer Scully-Lerner, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jennifer Scully-Lerner is a Vice President of Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs. In addition, she is the co-head of the Goldman Sachs firm-wide Women’s Network and is the New York Chair of the Women's Leadership Forum.  Ms. Scully-Lerner serves on the President’s Council of the New York Public Library and on the International Board of Covenant House. She is an active mentor with Student Sponsor Partnership and a speaker at the annual Adventures of the Mind Conference.  Ms. Scully-Lerner received her B.A. from Vanderbilt University and her M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.

Ellen Susman, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Ellen Susman is President of the Susman Family Foundation, which supports a variety of programs relating to the arts, justice, and the environment. Previously, Ms. Susman was the producer and host of “Balancing Your Life”, an award-winning national PBS program celebrating the strength of women as they work to balance career and family.  She has served on the Board of Directors of The Houston Grand Opera, the Alley Theatre, and The Houston Symphony Society Board.  Ms. Susman received her B.A. from Briarcliff College.

Mona Sutphen, Appointee for Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
Mona Sutphen is currently a Managing Director at UBS covering geopolitical and policy risk matters.  She served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy from 2009 until February 2011.  Prior to joining the Administration, Ms. Sutphen was Managing Director for Stonebridge-International LLC and a Vice President at Currenex, an online institutional foreign exchange trading platform.  From 1991 to 2000, Ms. Sutphen served as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer with postings on the National Security Council, at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, in the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia, in the State Department’s human rights bureau, and at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok.  She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.  Ms. Sutphen holds a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics.

Harry J. Wilson, Appointee for Member, Advisory Committee to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Harry J. Wilson is currently the Chairman and CEO of MAEVA Advisors, LLC, a boutique firm specializing in corporate restructurings. Mr. Wilson is a career private equity and distressed securities investor, having spent most of his career at The Blackstone Group and Silver Point Capital, where he was a partner. In 2009, he served as a senior member of the team at the US Treasury Department overseeing the restructurings of General Motors and Chrysler. Mr. Wilson has deep expertise in corporate restructuring and has invested across a broad array of asset classes throughout his career. He received an A.B. in government from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Dr. Philip Zelikow, Appointee for Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
Dr. Philip Zelikow is the Associate Dean for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the White Burkett Miller Professor of History at the University of Virginia.  From 2005 to 2007, Dr. Zelikow served as Counselor of the Department of State.  From 2003 to 2004, he was Executive Director of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the “9/11 Commission”).  Dr. Zelikow was a member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 2001 to 2003.  From 1991 to 1998, he was an Associate Professor of Public Policy at Harvard.  Dr. Zelikow was a career Foreign Service Officer from 1985 to 1991 and was detailed to the White House as Director for European Security on the staff of the National Security Council from 1989 to 1991.  He taught for the U.S. Navy, at the Naval Postgraduate School, before entering the Foreign Service.  A former trial and appellate attorney in Houston, he holds a B.A. from the University of Redlands, a J.D. from the University of Houston and a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.