President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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

• Patricia Welbourn Lorsch – Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Rusty Rueff – Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Orlan Boston – Member, Board of Governors of the United Service Organizations, Incorporated
• John D. Goldman – General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Amalia Perea Mahoney – General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts   
• Alyssa Mastromonaco – General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Reginald Van Lee – General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Danielle Gray – Member, Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States
• Barry Thom – United States Commissioner, Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission
• Allan Holt – Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council 

President Obama said, “The extraordinary dedication these men and women bring to their new roles will greatly serve the American people.  I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this Administration and 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:

Patricia Welbourn Lorsch, Appointee for Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Patricia Welbourn Lorsch is a former journalist, teacher, and political activist.  She wrote and taught journalism at the Calcutta School of Journalism and Mass Communication from 1972 to 1975.  Previously, she was a staff writer for Weekend Magazine in Montreal until 1970.  She was a feature writer for the Daily Express in London until 1964, and she began her journalism career in 1961 as a reporter for the Evening Standard in London.  Ms. Lorsch has been on the Board of Cambridge Family and Children’s Service since 2008, where she is currently Chair of the Development Committee.  She serves on the Board of the Massachusetts Cultural Council and is a member of the Democratic National Finance Committee.  Ms. Lorsch received a B.A. in French and Russian Languages from McGill University and studied drama at the Centre International du Spectacle in Paris.

Rusty Rueff, Appointee for Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Rusty Rueff is Chairman Emeritus of the GRAMMY Foundation and a co-founder of the Patti and Rusty Rueff Foundation.  He served as President and a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Conservatory Theater from 2003 to 2013.  Mr. Rueff was CEO of SNOCAP, Inc. from 2005 to 2008.  He was Executive Vice President of Human Resources for Electronic Arts from 1998 to 2005, and previously worked at PepsiCo from 1988 to 1998 and at Pratt & Whitney from 1986 to 1988.  Mr. Rueff serves on the Purdue University College of Liberal Arts Dean’s Advisory Council, and is a benefactor of Purdue’s Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Visual and Performing Arts.  He is a corporate Director of Glassdoor.com, HireVue, runcoach, ReThink Books, 1-page, and Workboard.  Mr. Rueff received a B.A. in Radio and Television and an M.S. in Counseling from Purdue University.

Orlan Boston, Appointee for Member, Board of Governors of the United Service Organizations, Incorporated

Orlan Boston is a Principal at Ernst & Young LLP, and has been the Americas Leader in the Transaction Advisory Services Life Sciences Practice since 2012.  Prior to joining Ernst & Young LLP, Mr. Boston worked at Deloitte Consulting from 1997 to 2012.  He became a Partner at Deloitte in 2007, and previously served in various positions which include National Life Sciences Mergers & Acquisitions Consulting Leader, a member of the National Markets & Services Leadership Committee, and Chief Diversity Officer.  He has held roles in a number of organizations, including member of the NY LGBT Community Center Board of Directors, founder of The Center Young Leaders Council, contributing author of the I Am Eco-Warrior book, and executive producer of HBO’s The Out List documentary film.  Mr. Boston received a B.S. from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

John D. Goldman, Appointee for General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

John D. Goldman was President of the San Francisco Symphony from 2001 to 2012 and has served on the Symphony’s Board of Governors since 1996.  Previously, he was the Chairman of Willis Insurance Services of California, Inc. and CEO of Goldman Insurance Services.  He served as Assistant Secretary of Transportation for the State of California from 1978 to 1981.  Mr. Goldman was appointed to the Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2011.  He served as the President of the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund and is the former President of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.  Mr. Goldman received a B.A. from Swarthmore College and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Amalia Perea Mahoney, Appointee for General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Amalia Perea Mahoney was the Director of Galeria Amalia Mahoney, an art gallery in Chicago specializing in Latin American Art, from 1995 to 2001.  She was first appointed to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2013.  Ms. Mahoney is a Steering Committee Member of the Women’s Board at the Goodman Theatre of Chicago and the University of Chicago Women’s Board.  She is the former President of Friends of the St. Columbanus Food Pantry.  She is a member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the Chicago Committee of Human Rights Watch, Arts Club of Chicago, and the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows.  Ms. Mahoney received a B.A. from Loyola University Chicago.

Alyssa Mastromonaco, Appointee for General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Alyssa Mastromonaco is a contributing editor to Marie Claire, a position she has held since 2014.  Previously, she served as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff at the White House from 2011 to 2014, and as Assistant to the President and Director of Scheduling and Advance at the White House from 2009 to 2011.  She also served as Director of Scheduling and Advance during President Obama’s first presidential campaign beginning in 2007.  She has worked for President Obama since February 2005, when she joined his United States Senate office as Director of Scheduling, and then was Political Director for the Hopefund, President Obama’s Political Action Committee.  Earlier in her career, she was Director of Scheduling for Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004, and before that, she was Press Secretary for Congressman Rick Boucher.  She serves on the Board of Directors of HeadCount.org and the Board of Visitors of the University of Wisconsin.  Ms. Mastromonaco received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Reginald Van Lee, Appointee for General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Reginald Van Lee is an Executive Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton, where he has worked since 1984.  He was named Partner at Booz Allen Hamilton in 1993 and Senior Partner in 2003.  He was first appointed to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2013 and served as a Member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities from 2009 to 2013.  He is Chairman of the Washington Performing Arts Society and Vice-Chair of the board of the Washington Ballet.  He is a Trustee of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation and the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York.  Mr. Van Lee is Chair of the board of the National CARES Mentoring Movement and a board member of the MAC AIDS Fund.  He is Chairman Emeritus of the board of the Evidence Dance Company.  Mr. Van Lee received a B.S. and an M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.

Danielle Gray, Appointee for Member, Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States

Danielle Gray is a litigation partner at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, a position she has held since 2014.  Ms. Gray recently served as Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary at the White House from 2013 to 2014.  She was Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy from 2011 to 2013.  Ms. Gray was Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division in the Department of Justice from 2010 to 2011.  From 2009 to 2010, she was Associate Counsel to the President at the White House.  Prior to joining the Administration, Ms. Gray served as Deputy Policy Director for Obama for America from 2007 to 2008.  From 2004 to 2005 and from 2006 to 2007, she practiced law in Washington, D.C. and New York.  Ms. Gray served as a law clerk for Justice Stephen G. Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court from 2005 to 2006 and for Judge Merrick B. Garland on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 2003 to 2004.  In 2014, she was selected as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, and was named a Lecturer of Law at Harvard Law School.  Ms. Gray received an A.B. in Economics and Public Policy from Duke University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. 

Barry Thom, Appointee for United States Commissioner, Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission

Barry Thom is currently the Deputy Regional Administrator, West Coast Region for the Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce, a position he has held since 2013.  From 2007 to 2013, Mr. Thom served as Deputy Regional Administrator, Northwest Region for NOAA's Fisheries Service.  He also served as a Strategic Planner for NOAA's Fisheries Service in the Northwest Region.  From 2001 to 2006, Mr.  Thom served as a Marine Resource Management Specialist for NOAA.  He began his career in 1997 as an Assistant Project Manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.  Mr. Thom received a B.S. from Oregon State University and an M.S. from the University of Washington.

Allan Holt, Appointee for Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council

Allan Holt is a Managing Director and Co-Head of the U.S. Buyout group at The Carlyle Group.  Previously, he was Head of Carlyle’s Global Aerospace, Defense, Technology and Business/Government Services team.  From 1989 to 1992, he worked at Avenir Group, Inc.  Prior to this, he was Director of Planning and Budgets at MCI Communications Corporation.  Mr. Holt serves on a number of boards including The Hillside Foundation, Inc., and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.  He also serves on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Committee on Conscience.  Mr. Holt received a B.A. from Rutgers University and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Statement by the Principal Deputy Press Secretary on World Humanitarian Day

Eleven years ago today, 22 humanitarian aid workers were killed in a horrific attack on the UN Headquarters in Baghdad.  Their lives were cut short as they worked selflessly to save others.  Each year on August 19 we pay homage to them, their colleagues worldwide who have been killed or injured in the line of duty, and the heroic efforts of those humanitarians currently in the field. 

Today, there is an unprecedented need for humanitarians and the spirit they embody. Some 108 million people need humanitarian assistance, and more people have been displaced by conflict than at any time since World War II.  Nearly eleven million Syrians and Iraqis have fled for their lives.  Millions need shelter, food, water, and medical care in the wake of factional fighting in the Central African Republic and a clash among South Sudan’s political leaders has put millions of people at risk of famine.  In these places and others—including Gaza, Somalia, Yemen, and now West Africa with the Ebola outbreak—humanitarians assume great personal risk to help those in need. 

Even as they do their utmost to help the most vulnerable, all too often humanitarians are harassed, kidnapped, or killed for their commitment.  There were 251 incidents of major violence against aid workers in 30 countries in 2013. These attacks resulted in 460 aid workers killed, kidnapped, or seriously wounded; many of them heroic local staff working to help neighbors in need. As the world’s largest humanitarian donor, the United States expresses its deepest respect to these individuals dedicated to serving others.  On behalf of the American people, we are proud to support their work and humbled by their sacrifice. The world needs more of their dedication, selflessness, and courage.

President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate Haywood Stirling Gilliam, Jr., to serve on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Haywood Stirling Gilliam, Jr., to serve on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

“I am pleased to nominate Mr. Gilliam to serve on the United States District Court bench,” said President Obama. “I am confident he will serve the American people with integrity and a steadfast commitment to justice.”

Haywood Stirling Gilliam, Jr.:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California

Haywood Stirling Gilliam, Jr., has been a partner at Covington & Burling LLP since 2009, where he is Vice-Chair of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice group.  From 2006 to 2009, he was a partner at Bingham McCutchen LLP.  Gilliam was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of California from 1999 to 2006, during which time he served as Chief of the Securities Fraud Section from 2004 to 2006.  He worked at McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen from 1995 to 1998 and served as a law clerk to Judge Thelton E. Henderson of the United States District Court for the Northern District Court of California from 1994 to 1995.  Gilliam received his J.D. in 1994 from Stanford Law School and his B.A. magna cum laude in 1991 from Yale University.

President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate Jeanne E. Davidson to Serve on the United States Court of International Trade

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Jeanne E. Davidson to serve on the United States Court of International Trade.

“I am proud to nominate this outstanding candidate to serve on the Court of International Trade,” said President Obama.  “Ms. Davidson has a long and distinguished record of service, and I am confident she will serve on the federal bench with distinction.”

Jeanne E. Davidson:  Nominee for the United States Court of International Trade
Jeanne E. Davidson is the Director of the Offices of Foreign Litigation and International Legal Assistance as well as the International Trade Field Office in the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division at the United States Department of Justice.  Previously, Davidson worked for more than 25 years in the National Courts Section of the Commercial Litigation Branch, where she served in various leadership roles, including as Director from 2007 to 2013.  From 1992 to 1993, Davidson served as Associate General Counsel in the Office of the United States Trade Representative.  She began her legal career as an associate at Steptoe & Johnson from 1980 to 1986.  Davidson received her J.D. in 1980 from the New York University School of Law and her A.B. in 1976 from the University of California at Berkeley.  She is currently the President of the Federal Circuit Bar Association.