President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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

• Deborah L. Birx – Ambassador at Large and Coordinator of United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally, Department of State
• Suzette Kimball – Director of the United States Geological Survey, Department of the Interior 

President Obama also announced his intent to appoint the following individual to a key Administration post:

• Jerilyn Mendoza – Member, Joint Public Advisory Committee of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation 

President Obama said, “I am confident that these outstanding 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:

Dr. Deborah L. Birx, Nominee for Ambassador at Large and Coordinator of United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally, Department of State

Dr. Deborah L. Birx is the Director of the Division of Global HIV/AIDS in the Center for Global Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a position she has held since 2009.  From 2005 to 2009, Dr. Birx served as the Director of the CDC’s Global AIDS Programs for the National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention.  Dr. Birx served on active duty in the U.S. Army for 29 years, retiring in 2008 with the rank of Colonel.  As an Army officer, she served as Director of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program and as Director of the Division of Retrovirology at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research from 1996 to 2005.  She served as the Laboratory Director of HIV-1 Vaccine Development from 1995 to 1996, Chief of the Department of Retroviral Research from 1994 to 1995, and Assistant Chief for the Department of Retroviral Research from 1989 to 1994.  Concurrently, Dr. Birx has served as adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina since 2012, a consultant to Walter Reed Army Medical Center since 1989, and an assistant professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences since 1985.  Dr. Birx received a B.S. from Houghton College and an M.D. from Penn State University. 

Dr. Suzette Kimball, Nominee for Director of the United States Geological Survey, Department of the Interior

Dr. Suzette Kimball has been the Deputy Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at the Department of the Interior since 2010, and has fulfilled the duties of the Director of USGS since February 2013.  Previously, she served as the Associate Director for Geology from 2008 to 2010, Director of the Eastern Region from 2004 to 2008, and Eastern Regional Executive for Biology from 1998 to 2004.  Dr. Kimball served as the South East Associate Regional Director and Regional Chief Scientist for the U.S. National Park Service from 1993 to 1998.  Previously, she was Research Coordinator in the Global Climate Change Program at the National Park Service and an Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia.  She has served as Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Center for Coastal Management and Policy and as Associate Marine Scientist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at the College of William and Mary.  From 1983 to 1986, Dr. Kimball served as a Coastal Engineering Research Center Unit Chief and a Program Manager for Barrier Islands Sedimentation Studies in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  Earlier in her career, she served as a research coordinator and a research assistant at the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia.  Dr. Kimball received a B.A. from the College of William and Mary, an M.S. from Ball State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.

President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individual to a key Administration post:

Jerilyn Mendoza, Appointee for Member, Joint Public Advisory Committee of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation

Jerilyn Mendoza is the Senior Environmental Affairs Program Manager at the Southern California Gas Company, a position she has held since December 2013.  Prior to this, Ms. Mendoza served as a Commissioner of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works from 2011 to 2013.  From 2010 to 2011, Ms. Mendoza was the California Manager for ICLEI -Local Governments for Sustainability.  Previously, she served as the Vice President of the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners from 2005 to 2010.  Ms. Mendoza served as a Policy Director and Staff Attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund of Los Angeles from 2000 to 2009.  She was a Litigation Associate at Foley & Lardner from 1998 to 2000 and was previously a Litigation Associate at McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen from 1996 to 1998.  Ms. Mendoza received a B.A. from Stanford University and a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law.