President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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

• Sung Y. Kim, Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Department of State
• Adrienne O’Neal, Ambassador to the Republic of Cape Verde, Department of State
• Roy Woodall, Member, Financial Stability Oversight Council

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

• Hyman Bass, Member, President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science
• Patty Gerstenblith, Chairman, Cultural Property Advisory Committee
• Sean C. Martin, United States Commissioner, Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean
• Patrick J. Murphy, Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy
• Russell F. Smith III, United States Commissioner, Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean
• Marija Vojkovich, United States Commissioner, Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean
• Nancy C. Wilkie, Member, Cultural Property Advisory Committee

President Obama said, “It gives me great confidence that such dedicated and capable individuals have agreed to join this Administration to serve the American people. 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:

Sung Y. Kim, Nominee for Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Department of State
Sung Y. Kim became the Special Envoy for the Six-Party Talks in July 2008 and was accorded the rank of Ambassador. A career Foreign Service Officer, Ambassador Kim headed the Office of Korean Affairs from 2006 to 2008. Previously, he was the Political-Military Unit Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul from 2002 to 2006. From 1999 to 2002, Ambassador Kim served as a Political Officer in Tokyo. Other overseas assignments include Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong. In Washington, Ambassador Kim worked in the Office of Chinese Affairs and served as Staff Assistant in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Ambassador Kim worked as a public prosecutor in the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office. He earned his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and received a J.D. from Loyola University Law School as well as an LL.M. from the London School of Economics.

Adrienne O’Neal, Nominee for Ambassador to the Republic of Cape Verde, Department of State
Adrienne O’Neal, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, currently serves as the Director of the Senior Level Division of Career Development and Assignments in Human Resources at the Department of State. Previous assignments have included Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, Director of the Office of Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy for Europe and Eurasian Affairs, and Deputy Press Secretary to the Director of National Drug Control Policy at the White House. Since joining the Foreign Service in 1983, Ms. O’Neal has also served overseas in Italy, Argentina, and Mozambique. From 2007 to 2009, Ms. O’Neal was Diplomat in Residence at the University of Michigan. Ms. O’Neal received a B.A. from Spelman College and a M.M.L. from Middlebury College.

Roy Woodall, Nominee for Member, Financial Stability Oversight Council
Roy Woodall is a former Commissioner of Insurance for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, serving in that capacity from 1966 to 1967. He recently retired as the Senior Insurance Policy Analyst at the Department of the Treasury, where he served from 2002 to 2011. From 2001 to 2002, Mr. Woodall was an Insurance Consultant for the Congressional Research Service. Previously, he served as President of the National Association of Life Companies (NALC), and upon NALC’s merger into the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), he served as ACLI’s Managing Director for Issues and Vice President/Chief Counsel for State Relations. He graduated from the University of Kentucky, where he earned a B.A. and a L.L.B.

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

Hyman Bass, Appointee for Member, President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science
Hyman Bass is the Samuel Eilenberg Distinguished University Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Education at the University of Michigan. He has served as the President of the American Mathematical Society and the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction and as Chair of the National Academy of Sciences’ Mathematical Sciences Education Board.  He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Education, and the Third World Academy of Sciences.  He won the Van Amringe Prize for his book, Algebraic K-theory, and the Cole Prize in Algebra from the American Mathematical Society.  His work in education focuses mainly on mathematical knowledge for teaching, and on teaching and learning of mathematical reasoning in elementary classrooms.  In 2006 he received the National Medal of Science.  Professor Bass received his B.A. in mathematics from Princeton University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Chicago.

Patty Gerstenblith, Appointee for Chairman, Cultural Property Advisory Committee
Patty Gerstenblith is a Distinguished Research Professor and Director of the Center for Art, Museum and Cultural Heritage Law at DePaul University College of Law in Chicago. She is founding president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation and is a director of the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield. Professor Gerstenblith has served as Chair, Senior Advisor, and Vice Chair of the Art and Cultural Heritage Law committee of the American Bar Association Section on International Law. From 1995 until 2002, she served as editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Cultural Property and from 2000 until 2003 as a member of the United States Cultural Property Advisory Committee. Her publications include the casebook Art, Cultural Heritage and the Law. Professor Gerstenblith received an A.B. in Classical and Near Eastern Archeology from Bryn Mawr College, a Ph.D. in Fine Arts and Anthropology from Harvard University and a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.

Sean C. Martin, Appointee for United States Commissioner, Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean
Sean Martin has been a member of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council since 2003 and has served as its chair and vice-chair. He has served on a variety of the Council's advisory panels, including those dealing with fisheries for highly migratory fish stocks. In addition, he has attended several international commission and management organization meetings related to the conservation and management of highly migratory fish stocks as a member of the U.S. delegation, including meetings of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and it's advisory committee meetings. Since 1999, Mr. Martin has been the President of the Hawaii Longline Association, which represents the Hawaii-based longline fishing industry. He has served as a Director of the Western Fishboat Owners Association, and he has been appointed to the U.S. Coast Guard's Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Advisory Committee. In addition, Mr. Martin has owned, operated, and crewed on a variety of commercial fishing vessels in the Pacific Ocean.

Patrick J. Murphy, Appointee for Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy
Patrick J. Murphy became the first Iraq war veteran elected to Congress in 2006 and is currently a partner at the law firm of Fox Rothschild LLP.  Volunteering for combat after the September 11 terrorist attacks, Mr. Murphy deployed to Baghdad in 2003 with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. He earned the Bronze Star for Service. Prior to deployment, Mr. Murphy was stationed at the United States Military Academy at West Point where he taught Constitutional Law to cadets. During his two terms in Congress, Mr. Murphy fought for a pay raise for U.S. troops, a new G.I. Bill for men and women returning from combat and increased protection for servicemembers under the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act.  Mr. Murphy received a B.A. from King’s College and a J.D. from Widener University School of Law.

Russell F. Smith III, Appointee for United States Commissioner, Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean
Russell F. Smith III is Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”), and is responsible for overseeing NOAA's work with other countries to ensure that fish stocks are sustainably managed. He currently serves as the acting United States Federal Commissioner for both the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. Mr. Smith came to NOAA from the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”), where he was the Director for International Environmental Policy and Multilateral Environmental Agreements since 2006.  He joined USTR in 2002 as a Deputy Director in the Office of the Free Trade Area of the Americas.  Prior to that, he had many years of experience at the U.S. Department of Justice and in private practice.  He holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from Yale.  

Marija Vojkovich, Appointee for United States Commissioner, Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean
Marija Vojkovich is the Regional Manager of the Marine Region for the California Department of Fish and Game.  At the California Department of Fish and Game, she oversees all marine habitat, fisheries, and regulatory activities and coordinates closely with governmental agencies, non governmental organizations, and a diverse constituency.  Ms. Vojkovich has been a member of the Pacific Fishery Management Council for the past eight years, filling the State of California Principal Official seat.  As a member of the Council she has been active in issues associated with the Fishery Management Plan for U.S. West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species, which directs federal management of the West Coast based fisheries for the resources under the purview of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. She has more than 30 years of experience in fisheries management and policy.  Ms. Vojkovich has a B.S. in Fisheries Management from California State University Humboldt.

Nancy C. Wilkie, Appointee for Member, Cultural Property Advisory Committee
Nancy Wilkie is the William H. Laird Professor of Classics, Anthropology and the Liberal Arts at Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota and a former president of the Archaeological Institute of America.  She has conducted archaeological research in Greece, Egypt, Sri Lanka, and Nepal where she served as Senior Fulbright Lecturer.  Currently she is the Secretary of the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield and a member of the Executive Board of the Register of Professional Archaeologists, the Advisory Board of Heritage Watch International, and the Managing Committee of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. She was first appointed to the Cultural Property Advisory Committee in 2003 by former President George W. Bush.  Professor Wilkie received her A.B. from Stanford University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.