President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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

• Jeffery M. Baran – Commissioner, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• Stephen Burns – Commissioner, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri – Chairman, National Indian Gaming Commission, Department of the Interior

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

• Anita Bevacqua McBride – Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board
• Joseph Falk – Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board

President Obama said, “I am grateful that these impressive individuals have chosen to dedicate their talents to serving the American people at this important time for our country.  I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

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

Jeffery M. Baran, Nominee for Commissioner, Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Jeffery M. Baran is currently Staff Director for Energy and Environment on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, a position he has held since May 2014.  Prior to this, Mr. Baran served on the Committee on Energy and Commerce as Senior Counsel from 2011 to 2014, and as Counsel from 2009 to 2010.  He served as Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from 2003 to 2008.  From 2001 to 2003, Mr. Baran worked as a law clerk for Judge Lesley Wells of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.  Mr. Baran received a B.A. and M.A. from Ohio University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Stephen Burns, Nominee for Commissioner, Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Stephen Burns is currently the Head of Legal Affairs for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency, a position he has held since 2012.  Prior to joining the OECD, Mr. Burns served at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in a variety of roles.  He was General Counsel from 2009 to 2012, Deputy General Counsel from 1998 to 2009, and Associate General Counsel for Hearings, Enforcement and Administration from 1994 to 1998.  Mr. Burns also served at NRC as Director of the Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication from 1991 to 1994, Executive Assistant to NRC Chairman Carr from 1989 to 1991, Legal Assistant to Commissioner Carr from 1986 to 1989, and Deputy Director of the Regional Operations and Enforcement Division from 1986 to 1986.  He began his career at the NRC as an Attorney in the Regional Operations and Enforcement Division from 1978 to 1983.  Mr. Burns received a B.A. from Colgate University and a J.D. from The George Washington University Law Center.

Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri, Nominee for Chairman, National Indian Gaming Commission, Department of the Interior

Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri is currently Vice Chairman and Associate Commissioner of the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC), positions he has held since 2013.  He also served as Acting Chairman of the NIGC from October 2013 to April 2014.  Prior to joining the NIGC, Mr. Chaudhuri was Senior Counselor to the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior from 2012 to 2013.  He served as an Associate Judge on the Puyallup Tribe of Nations Court from 2011 to 2012, an Appellate Judge on the San Manuel Mission Band of Indians Appeals Court from 2009 to 2012, and an Appellate Judge on the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Supreme Court from 2006 to 2012.  Previously, he served as a Deputy Public Defender in the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office from 2010 to 2011 and as Managing Attorney at the Chaudhuri Law Office, P.L.L.C. from 2006 to 2010.  Mr. Chaudhuri also held Appellate Judge appointments on the Gila River Indian Community Court of Appeals from 2008 to 2010 and on the Yavapai-Apache Nation Court of Appeals from 2005 to 2009.  From 2001 to 2006, he served as an Associate at Snell & Wilmer, L.L.P.  Prior to this, he served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Noel Fidel of the Arizona Court of Appeals from 2000 to 2001 and a Judicial Clerk for the Honorable James Ackerman of the Arizona Court of Appeals from 1999 to 2000.  Mr. Chaudhuri received a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from Cornell Law School.

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

Anita Bevacqua McBride, Appointee for Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board

Anita Bevacqua McBride is Executive in Residence at the School of Public Affairs at American University.  She was first appointed to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board in 2009.  Previously, she served at the White House in various capacities, including Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush from 2005 to 2009 and  Special Assistant to the President for White House Management in 2001.  Ms. McBride served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary and White House Liaison at the Department of State from 2001 to 2003, and as Senior Advisor in the Bureau of International Organizations at the Department of State in 2004.  From 1987 to 1992, she was Director of White House Personnel under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.  Ms. McBride is a member of the U.S. – Afghan Women's Council and serves on the boards of the White House Historical Association and the National Italian American Foundation.  She is the recipient of the National Guard and Reserve's Patriot Award and the University of Connecticut’s President's Award of Distinction.  Ms. McBride received a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Connecticut.

Joseph Falk, Appointee for Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board

Joseph Falk has been a Public Policy Advisor at Akerman LLP since joining the firm in 2003.  Previously, he was President and CEO of the Metropolitan Mortgage Company in Miami, Florida, where he worked from 1978 to 2001.  Mr. Falk is currently Vice Chairman of the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science in Miami, Florida and a member of the Board of Directors of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.  He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers since 1995, and served as its President from 2001 to 2002.  He was on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors’ Consumer Advisory Council from 2007 to 2009.  Mr. Falk received a B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.