President Obama Signs Delaware Disaster Declaration

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Delaware and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by Hurricane Sandy during the period of October 27 to November 8, 2012.

Federal funding is available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by Hurricane Sandy in Kent, New Castle, and Sussex Counties.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Jack Schuback as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. 

FEMA said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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

• Deborah Loewenberg Ball – Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation
• Inez Y. Fung – Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation
• Marc D. Guthrie – Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board
• G. Peter Lepage – Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation
• Norma Jean Mattei – Commissioner, Mississippi River Commission
• Geraldine Richmond – Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation 
• Nancy E. Soderberg – Chairperson, Public Interest Declassification Board 

President Obama said, “I am honored that these talented individuals have decided to join this Administration and serve our country.  I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”

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

Dr. Deborah Loewenberg Ball, Appointee for Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation
Dr. Deborah Loewenberg Ball is Dean of the University of Michigan School of Education, where she is also the William H. Payne Collegiate Professor of Education and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor.  She is also the Director of TeachingWorks, an organization that seeks to improve professional training for teachers. Dr. Ball taught elementary school for more than 15 years, and continues to teach mathematics to elementary students every summer. Dr. Ball has served on the National Mathematics Advisory Panel, the National Board for Education Sciences, and is an elected member of the National Academy of Education. She received a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from Michigan State University.

Dr. Inez Y. Fung, Appointee for Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation
Dr. Inez Y. Fung is a Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of California, Berkeley.  She was an Adjunct Senior Scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University from 1979 to 2001, worked as a Physical Scientist for NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies from 1986 to 1998, and was the Founding Director of the Berkeley Institute of the Environment.  Dr. Fung was appointed to the President’s Committee for the National Medal of Science in 2010.  Dr. Fung is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of both the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society.  She is the recipient of NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, the American Geophysical Union’s Roger Revelle Medal, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Distinguished Achievement Award.  Dr. Fung contributed to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.  Dr. Fung received an S.B. and Sc.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Marc D. Guthrie, Appointee for Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board
Marc D. Guthrie is the Director of Development and Advocacy for the American Council of the Blind of Ohio, a position he has held since 2006.  In addition, Mr. Guthrie is a City Councilman At-Large in Newark, Ohio, and served as the President of Newark City Council from 2004 to 2009.  Previously, he was the Business and Human Resources Administrator for District Five of the Ohio Department of Transportation from 2009 to 2011, and the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of United Cerebral Palsy of Central Ohio from 1995 to 2001.  He served on the United States Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board from 1996 to 2005, and as a State Representative for the 77th House District in the Ohio House of Representatives.  Mr. Guthrie received an A.A. from Ohio Dominican College.

Dr. G. Peter Lepage, Appointee for Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation
Dr. G. Peter Lepage is the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University, where he served as Chair of the Department of Physics from 1999 to 2003, and has been a professor of Physics since 1980.  Dr. Lepage was Co-Chair of the STEM Undergraduate Education Working Group for the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, contributing to their 2012 report, “Engage to Excel.”  He is also a member of the Technical Advisory Committee for the Association of American Universities’ Undergraduate STEM Education Initiative.  He was the recipient of an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship in 1983, the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 1996, and is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  Dr. Lepage received a B.Sc. from McGill University, an M.A.St. from the University of Cambridge, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Dr. Norma Jean Mattei, Appointee for Commissioner, Mississippi River Commission
Dr. Norma Jean Mattei is the interim Dean of Engineering at the University of New Orleans, where she also serves as a professor and Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.  Dr. Mattei is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Louisiana, and was a design and project engineer in the New Orleans area from 1982 to 1989.  She has served in a variety of leadership roles in the American Society of Civil Engineers, and currently serves as Region 5 Director on the National Board of Direction, a member of the Executive Committee, and Chair and Governor of Region 5.  In 2007, she was appointed to the Louisiana Professional Engineering and Land Surveying Board, and has served as Chair since 2011.  She also currently serves as Chair of the Education Committee for the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying.  Dr. Mattei received a B.S. and Ph.D. from Tulane University.

Dr. Geraldine Richmond, Appointee for Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation
Dr. Geraldine Richmond is the Richard M. and Patricia H. Noyes Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science at the University of Oregon.  Dr. Richmond is the Founder and Chair of the Committee on the Advancement of Women Chemists, an organization dedicated to the advancement of women scientists and engineers.  Before joining the faculty of the University of Oregon in 1985, she was a professor of chemistry at Bryn Mawr College.  Dr. Richmond serves as the Assistant Secretary for the Sciences at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.  She is the recipient of the 2013 Charles L. Parsons Award from the American Chemical Society and the 2013 Davisson-Germer Prize for Surface Physics from the American Physical Society.  Dr. Richmond received a B.S. from Kansas State University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ambassador Nancy E. Soderberg, Appointee for Chairperson, Public Interest Declassification Board
Ambassador Nancy E. Soderberg is the President of the Connect U.S. Fund, a non-profit organization that focuses on promoting U.S. global engagement.  In addition, she is a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of North Florida and the President and CEO of Soderberg Global Solutions.  She was first appointed as Chairperson of the Public Interest Declassification Board by President Obama in January 2012.  Ambassador Soderberg served as Vice President of the International Crisis Group from 2001 until 2005.  She served, with the rank of Ambassador, as the United States Representative for Special Political Affairs at the United Nations from 1997 to 2001, as Deputy Assistant to the President and Staff Director of the National Security Council from 1993 until 1997, and as a Foreign Policy Advisor to Senator Edward M. Kennedy from 1985 to 1992.  Ambassador Soderberg has written The Superpower Myth: The Use and Misuse of American Might, and co-authored The Prosperity Agenda: What the World Wants from America - and What We Need in Return.  She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.  Ambassador Soderberg received a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and an M.S. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.