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:

• Manson K. Brown – Assistant Secretary for Environmental Observation and Prediction, Department of Commerce
• Carmen Amalia Corrales – Member, Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation
• Rafael J. López  – Commissioner on Children, Youth, and Families, Department of Health and Human Services

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

• Evan Jonathan Wallach – Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Naval Academy
• Christopher P. Lu – Member, Congressional-Executive Commission on the People’s Republic of China
• Tom Malinowski – Member, Congressional-Executive Commission on the People’s Republic of China
• Danny Russel – Member, Congressional-Executive Commission on the People’s Republic of China
• Stefan M. Selig – Member, Congressional-Executive Commission on the People’s Republic of China
• Sarah Sewall – Member, Congressional-Executive Commission on the People’s Republic of China
• Peggy L. Brookins – Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans
• Kent McGuire – Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans
• Evelynn M. Hammonds – Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans
• Michael T. Nettles – Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans
• Spencer Overton – Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans
• Becky Pringle – Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans
• John Rice – Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans
• Regina Stanback Stroud – Member, President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans

Members of the Congressional-Executive Commission on the People’s Republic of China will continue serving in their current roles in addition to these appointments.

President Obama said, “These men and women have demonstrated knowledge and dedication throughout their careers.  I am grateful they have chosen to take on these important 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:

Vice Admiral Manson K. Brown, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Environmental Observation and Prediction, Department of Commerce

Vice Admiral Manson K. Brown served as Deputy Commandant for Mission Support for the U.S. Coast Guard from 2012 to 2014.  He served as Commander of Coast Guard Pacific Area in California from 2010 to 2012 and as Commander of Coast Guard District 14 in Hawaii from 2008 to 2010.  Vice Admiral Brown’s previous tours of duty include Assistant Engineering Officer aboard the icebreaker “Glacier” and command of Coast Guard Sector Honolulu and Group Charleston.  In 2006, he assumed command of the Maintenance & Logistics Command Pacific of the Coast Guard, where he had previously served as Assistant Chief of the Civil Engineering Division.  In 2004, he served as Senior Advisor for Transportation to Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, Iraq.  In 2003, Vice Admiral Brown served as the Chief of Officer Personnel Management at the Coast Guard Personnel Command.  From 1999 to 2002, he was the Military Assistant to the Secretary of Transportation.  He received a B.S. from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, an M.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an M.S. from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

Carmen Amalia Corrales, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation

Carmen Amalia Corrales is a Partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, a position she has held since 1998.  Prior to joining Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in 1990, Ms. Corrales served as a judicial clerk for Justice Marie Garibaldi of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1989 to 1990.  She is a member of the Committee for the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, a Trustee of Bloomfield College, a member of the Board of Directors of the Academy of Political Science, and a member of the Board of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.  Ms. Corrales received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Rafael J. López, Nominee for Commissioner on Children, Youth, and Families, Department of Health and Human Services

Rafael J. López is a Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President, a position he has held since 2013.  From 2010 to 2013, he was an Associate Director at the Annie E. Casey Foundation.  From 2009 to 2010, Mr. López served as the President and CEO of The Family League of Baltimore City, Inc.  From 2006 to 2009, he served as the Executive Director of the City of Los Angeles Commission for Children, Youth and Their Families.  Mr. López was Deputy Director of the City and County of San Francisco Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families in 2006 and was Senior Deputy for Health and Human Services for Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina from 2005 to 2006.  From 1999 to 2004, he served as the founding Executive Director of First 5 Santa Cruz County.  Mr. López received a B.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an M.P.A. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

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

Judge Evan Jonathan Wallach, Appointee for Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Naval Academy

Judge Evan Jonathan Wallach serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, a position he has held since 2011.  He previously served on the U.S. Court of International Trade from 1995 to 2011.  He was a litigation partner at the law firm of Lionel Sawyer & Collins in Las Vegas, Nevada from 1982 to 1995.  He served as General Counsel and Public Policy Advisor to Senator Harry Reid from 1987 to 1988, and served in the Nevada National Guard as a Judge Advocate from 1989 to 1995.  Judge Wallach was an attorney in the International Affairs Division of the Judge Advocate of the Army at the Department of Defense.  He served in the U.S. Army from 1969 to 1971, where his awards included the Bronze Star, the Air Medal, and the RVN Cross of Gallantry with Palm.  Judge Wallach received a B.A. from the University of Arizona, a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and an L.L.B. from the University of Cambridge.

Christopher P. Lu, Appointee for Member, Congressional-Executive Commission on the People’s Republic of China

Christopher P. Lu is the Deputy Secretary of Labor, a position he has held since April 2014.  Previously, he was a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress.  In 2013, he was a Fellow at The University of Chicago Institute of Politics and the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy.  From 2009 to 2013, Mr. Lu was Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary at the White House.  In 2008, he served as Executive Director of the Obama-Biden Transition Project.  From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Lu served as Legislative Director and then as Acting Chief of Staff for then-Senator Barack Obama.  From 1997 to 2005, Mr. Lu was Deputy Chief Counsel of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Minority Staff).  He began his career as a law clerk to Judge Robert E. Cowen on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and as an attorney at Sidley Austin, LLP.  He was Co-Chair of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders from 2011 to 2013.  Mr. Lu received an A.B. from Princeton University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Tom Malinowski, Appointee for Member, Congressional-Executive Commission on the People’s Republic of China

Tom Malinowski is the Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the Department of State (DOS), a position he has held since April 2014.  Previously, from 2001 to 2014, he was the Washington Director for Human Rights Watch.  From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Malinowski served as a Senior Director for Foreign Policy Speechwriting on the National Security Staff at the White House, and from 1994 to 1998 he was a speechwriter and member of the Policy Planning Staff at DOS.  Earlier in his career, he was a Research Assistant for the Ford Foundation from 1992 to 1993 and served as a Special Assistant to U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan in 1988.  Mr. Malinowski received a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.Phil. from Oxford University.

Danny Russel, Appointee for Member, Congressional-Executive Commission on the People’s Republic of China

Danny Russel is the Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State, a position he has held since July 2013.  Previously, from 2011 to 2013, he served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Asian Affairs.  From 2009 and 2011, Mr. Russel served as the Director for Japan, South Korea, and North Korea on the National Security Council and was the U.S. Consul General in Osaka-Kobe, Japan from 2005 to 2008.  From 2002 to 2005, he was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands, and from 1999 to 2002 he was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus.  Mr. Russel was Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 1997 to 1999, and served as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary from 1995 to 1996.  He served as Political Section Unit Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea from 1992 to 1995, Political Advisor to the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1989 to 1992, and Branch Office Manager and Vice Counsel in Nagoya and Osaka, Japan from 1985 to 1989. 

Stefan M. Selig, Appointee for Member, Congressional-Executive Commission on the People’s Republic of China

Stefan M. Selig is the Under Secretary for International Trade at the Department of Commerce, a position he has held since June 2014.  From 2009 to 2014, Mr. Selig was the Executive Vice Chairman of Global Corporate and Investment Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.  From 1999 to 2009, he held various leadership roles at Banc of America Securities, including Vice Chairman of Global Investment Banking and Global Head of Mergers and Acquisitions.  From 1992 to 1999, Mr. Selig held various senior investment banking positions, including Co-Head of Mergers and Acquisitions at UBS Securities.  In 1988, he was a founding partner of Wasserstein Perella & Co.  Earlier in his career, he worked in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group at The First Boston Corporation and also served on the Board of Directors of Service for the UnderServed. Mr. Selig received a B.A. from Wesleyan University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Dr. Sarah Sewall, Appointee for Member, Congressional-Executive Commission on the People’s Republic of China

Dr. Sarah Sewall is the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights at the Department of State, a position she has held since February 2014.  Previously, she was a Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a visiting professor at the Naval War College.  In 2012, she was Minerva Chair at the Naval War College, and from 2006 to 2009 she served as the Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University.  Dr. Sewall joined the Kennedy School in 2000 as Director of the National Security and Human Rights Program and founded the Mass Atrocity Response Operations Project and the Project on the Means of Intervention.  From 1998 to 1999, Dr. Sewall was Associate Director at the Committee on International Security Studies at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and she was a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow at Harvard’s Program on Negotiations in 1997.  From 1993 to 1996, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance at the Department of Defense.  She was Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell from 1987 to 1996.  In 2008, she directed the National Security Agency Review for the Obama-Biden Transition.  Dr. Sewall received a B.A. from Harvard University and a D.Phil. from Oxford University.

Peggy L. Brookins, Appointee for Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans

Peggy L. Brookins is the Co-Founder, Director, and Mathematics Instructor for the Engineering and Manufacturing Institute of Technology at Forest High School in Ocala, Florida, where she has worked since 1978.  Ms. Brookins has also served on the Board of Directors of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, inBloom, The Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences Ad Hoc Committee on Teachers as Professionals, the Content Technical Working Group for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, and as a commissioner on the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation.  Ms. Brookins has been inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame and is a Florida Education Association “Everyday Hero.” She is an Aspen Ideas Scholar, a National Board Certified Teacher, and received the Florida Education Association Excellence in Teaching Award.  Ms. Brookins received a B.S. from the University of Florida.

Dr. Kent McGuire, Appointee for Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans

Dr. Kent McGuire is the President of the Southern Education Foundation (SEF), a position he has held since 2010.  Prior to joining SEF, Dr. McGuire served as Dean of the College of Education at Temple University from 2003 to 2010, where he was a tenured professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies.  Dr. McGuire was a Senior Vice President at MDRC, Inc. from 2001 to 2003, and served as Assistant Secretary of Educational Research and Improvement at the Department of Education from 1997 to 2001.  From 1994 to 1997, Dr. McGuire was a Program Officer at Pew Charitable Trusts, and from 1990 to 1994 he was a Program Director at Lilly Endowment, Inc.  He currently serves on a number of boards, including Cornerstone Literacy, the Harwood Institute, the Institute for Education Leadership, and The New Teacher Project.  Dr. McGuire received a B.A. from the University of Michigan, an M.A. from Columbia University Teacher’s College, and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Denver.

Dr. Evelynn M. Hammonds, Appointee for Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans

Dr. Evelynn M. Hammonds is the Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science and Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University.  She has served as a Member of the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities since 2010.  From 2008 to 2013, Dr. Hammonds served as Dean of Harvard College and from 2005 to 2008 she was Senior Vice President for Faculty Development and Diversity at Harvard University.  Dr. Hammonds joined the Harvard faculty after teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1993 to 2002, where she founded the Center for the Study of Diversity in Science, Technology, and Medicine.  She is a member of the Committee on Equal Opportunity in Science and Engineering, and serves on a number of boards, including the Board of Overseers of the Museum of Science in Boston and the Board of Trustees of Spelman College.  Dr. Hammonds received a B.S. from Spelman College, a B.E.E. from the Georgia Institute of Technology, an S.M. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Dr. Michael T. Nettles, Appointee for Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans

Dr. Michael T. Nettles is Senior Vice President and the Edmund W. Gordon Chair of the Policy Evaluation and Research Center at Educational Testing Service (ETS), positions he has held since 2006 and 2003, respectively.  He was previously Vice President of Policy Evaluation and Research from 2004 to 2006 and Executive Director of Policy Research from 2003 to 2004.  Dr. Nettles was a Professor of Education at the University of Michigan from 1992 to 2003, and served as the first Executive Director of the Fredrick D. Patterson Research Institute of the United Negro College Fund from 1996 to 1999.  Dr. Nettles previously served as Vice President for Assessment at the University of Tennessee System from 1989 to 1992, and was a Research Scientist at ETS from 1984 to 1989.  He was Assistant Director for Academic Affairs for the Tennessee Higher Education Commission from 1981 to 1984.  He serves on the boards of a number of organizations, including the Southern Education Foundation, the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, Bank Street College of Education, and the Corporate and Philanthropic Council of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.  Dr. Nettles received a B.A. from the University of Tennessee, and an M.A., M.S., and Ph.D. from Iowa State University.

Spencer Overton, Appointee for Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans

Spencer Overton is a Professor of Law at The George Washington University Law School (GWU), a position he has held since 2002.  Mr. Overton is currently on leave from GWU, while he serves as the interim President of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.  He also took a leave of absence from 2009 to 2010 to serve as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice.  From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Overton was an Acting Professor of Law at the University of California, King Hall School of Law, and from 1999 to 2000 he was a Charles Hamilton Houston Fellow at Harvard Law School.  Mr. Overton practiced law at Debevoise & Plimpton from 1997 to 2000 and at Dickinson, Wright, Moon, Van Dusen, and Freeman from 1994 to 1996.  He began his career as a clerk for the Honorable Damon J. Keith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 1993 to 1994.  Mr. Overton received a B.A. from Hampton University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Becky Pringle, Appointee for Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans

Becky Pringle is the Secretary-Treasurer of the National Education Association (NEA), a position she has held since 2008.  Ms. Pringle previously served as a member of NEA’s Executive Committee and spent 31 years as a middle school science teacher in the Susquehanna School District in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  Ms. Pringle has served on the Board of Directors for the NEA and for the Pennsylvania State Education Association.  She has chaired the NEA Reading Task Force, NEA Elementary and Secondary Education Act Advisory Committee, and the workgroup that developed the NEA’s Policy Statement on Teacher Evaluation and Accountability.  During her tenure on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, Ms. Pringle was elected Finance Chair.  She also served on the Blue Ribbon Panel on Teacher Preparation commissioned by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, and currently serves on the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation.  She has received numerous awards, including the Pennsylvania Academy’s Teaching Excellence Award.  Ms. Pringle received a B.S. from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. from Pennsylvania State University.

John Rice, Appointee for Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans

John Rice is the Founder and CEO of Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT).  Mr. Rice founded MLT in 1994 and became its full-time CEO in 2000.  He has served as a Member of the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities since 2010.  Mr. Rice previously worked for the National Basketball Association (NBA) as managing director of NBA Japan from 1998 to 2000 and as director of marketing for NBA Latin America from 1996 to 1998.  Mr. Rice worked for the Walt Disney Company in new business development and marketing from 1992 to 1996, and worked for AT&T as an account executive from 1988 to 1990.  Mr. Rice serves on the Board of Trustees of Yale University, is a Director of Walker & Dunlop Inc., and serves on the boards of several non-profits, including the American Management Association, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, and LIFT.  Mr. Rice received a B.A. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. 

Dr. Regina Stanback Stroud, Appointee for Member, President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans

Dr. Regina Stanback Stroud is currently the President of Skyline College in San Bruno, California, a position she has held since 2011.  She previously served as the Vice President of Instruction at Skyline College from 2001 to 2010.  From 1997 to 2001, she was the Dean of Workforce and Economic Development at Mission College in Santa Clara, California.  Prior to that, Dr. Stanback Stroud was a Nursing Professor at Rancho Santiago College from 1985 to 1997 and at Craven Community College from 1983 to 1985.  From 1993 to 1995, she served in various leadership roles on the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges.  Dr. Stanback Stroud received a B.S.N. from Howard University, an M.S. from Golden Gate University, and an M.A. and an Ed.D. from Mills College.