President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

Glyn Townsend Davies, Nominee for Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand, Department of State

Glyn Townsend Davies, a career member of the Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, is currently a Senior Advisor in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State, a position he has held since 2014.  Prior to that, he was Special Representative for North Korea Policy from 2012 to 2014.  From 2009 to 2012, he served as the United States Representative to the Vienna Office of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency.  Mr. Davies served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2006 to 2009.  Mr. Davies was a Senior Advisor at the Foreign Service Institute’s Leadership and Management School from 2005 to 2006, Acting Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in 2005, Deputy Assistant Secretary for European Affairs from 2004 to 2005, and Political Director for the U.S. Presidency of the G-8 from 2003 to 2004.  From 1999 to 2003, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in London, United Kingdom.  Mr. Davies was Executive Secretary of the National Security Council staff from 1997 to 1999, State Department Deputy Spokesman and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs from 1995 to 1997, and Director of the State Department Operations Center from 1992 to 1994.  His earlier assignments include posts in Australia, France, and Zaire.  Mr. Davies received a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University and an M.S. from the National Defense University.

 

Carol Waller Pope, Nominee for Member, Federal Labor Relations Authority, and upon appointment to be designated Chairman

Carol Waller Pope is currently Chairman of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), a position she has held since November 2013 and previously from February 2009 to January 2013.  She was first appointed as a Member of the FLRA in 2000.  Ms. Pope has also served as a Member of the National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations since December 2013 and previously from 2010 to January 2013.  Prior to her appointment to the FLRA, Ms. Pope worked in the Office of the General Counsel of the FLRA from 1980 to 2000, first as an attorney in the Boston Regional Office, then as Executive Assistant to the General Counsel, and finally as Assistant General Counsel.  Earlier in her career, she served as an Attorney Advisor in the Employee Benefits Division of the Office of the Solicitor at the Department of Labor.  She has been recognized by numerous professional organizations for her work, including the American Bar Association’s Federal Labor and Employment Law Section and Simmons College.  Ms. Pope received a B.A. from Simmons College and a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.

 

Amanda Hesser, Appointee for Member, President's Commission on White House Fellowships

Amanda Hesser is CEO of Food52, a website she co-founded in 2009.  She played herself in the 2009 film Julie & Julia and created the Twitter app Plodt in 2008.  From 1997 to 2008, she was a Reporter and Food Editor at The New York Times.  Ms. Hesser is also the author of Cooking for Mr. Latte: A Food Lover’s Courtship, with Recipes and The Cook and the Gardener and is the co-author of two Food52 cookbooks.  Her most recent book, The Essential New York Times Cookbook, was a New York Times Bestseller.  Ms. Hesser was named one of the 50 most influential women in food by Gourmet in 2011.  Food52 was named Publication of the Year by the James Beard Foundation in 2012 and Best Culinary Website by the International Association of Culinary Professionals for the past three years.  Ms. Hesser received a B.S. from Bentley University.