President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

Dr. Karen DeSalvo, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Health, Department of Health and Human Services

Dr. Karen DeSalvo is the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a position she has held since 2014.  In October 2014, Dr. DeSalvo was designated as Acting Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS.  Before joining HHS, she served as Health Commissioner for the City of New Orleans, Louisiana, and also as Senior Health Policy Advisor for New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu from 2011 to 2014.  From 1996 to 2011, Dr. DeSalvo was a practicing internal medicine physician and professor of medicine at Tulane University School of Medicine.  Dr. DeSalvo has also held various leadership positions at Tulane University School of Medicine, including Chief of the Section of General Medicine from 2000 to 2011, Chief of the Section of General Medicine and Geriatrics from 2003 to 2011, Executive Director of the Tulane University Community Health Centers from 2005 to 2011, and Vice Dean for Community Affairs and Health Policy from 2008 to 2011.  Her career has also included a number of leadership roles at the affiliate hospitals of Tulane School of Medicine, including Director of the Tulane Medicine Clinic from 1997 to 1999 and Associate Chief of the Tulane Medicine Service from 1996 to 1999 at the Medical Center of Louisiana (MCLNO).  She has been a member of numerous professional boards, including the National Association of City and County Health Officers, the Louisiana Public Health Institute, and the Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum, of which she is a past president and founding board member, the Society of General Internal Medicine, and she was past President of the Association of Chiefs and Leaders of General Internal Medicine.  She continues to be clinically active in Louisiana.  Dr. DeSalvo received a B.A. from Suffolk University, an M.Sc. from Harvard University, and an M.P.H. and M.D. from Tulane University.

 

Jennifer Zimdahl Galt, Nominee for Ambassador to Mongolia, Department of State

Jennifer Zimdahl Galt, a career member of the Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, currently serves as Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou, China, a position she has held since 2012.  Previously, Ms. Galt served as a Senior Advisor in the Bureau of Public Affairs from 2011 to 2012 and as a Public Affairs Advisor at the U.S. Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels, Belgium from 2010 to 2011.  From 2008 to 2010, she served as Deputy Director in the Office of Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.  Ms. Galt also served as a Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai, China from 2003 to 2007 and as Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China from 2000 to 2003.  After joining the Foreign Service in 1988, her early assignments included posts in India, Taiwan, and the former Yugoslavia.  Ms. Galt received a B.A. from Colorado College, an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University, and an M.S. from the National Defense University.

 

David R. Gilmour, Nominee for Ambassador to the Togolese Republic, Department of State

David R. Gilmour, a career member of the Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs at the Department of State, a position he has held since 2013.  Previously, Mr. Gilmour served as the Director of the Office of Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of African Affairs from 2011 to 2013, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Panama City, Panama from 2008 to 2011, and Public Affairs Counselor at the U.S. Mission in Geneva, Switzerland from 2007 to 2008.  He also served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Lilongwe, Malawi from 2004 to 2007 and as Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Sydney, Australia from 2000 to 2004.  Mr. Gilmour’s earlier assignments include posts in Cameroon, Costa Rica, Senegal, and South Africa.  Mr. Gilmour received a B.A. from Saginaw Valley State University and an M.A. from the University of Texas, Austin.

 

James Desmond Melville, Jr., Nominee for Ambassador to the Republic of Estonia, Department of State

James Desmond Melville, Jr., a career member of the Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, is the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, Germany, a position he has held since 2012.  He previously served as Executive Director of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and the Bureau of International Organization Affairs from 2010 to 2012.  Prior to that, Mr. Melville served as Minister-Counselor for Management at the U.S. Embassy in London, United Kingdom from 2008 to 2010 and at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia from 2005 to 2008.  Mr. Melville also served as Management Officer and Supervisory General Services Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France from 2001 to 2005 and as Administrative Officer at the U.S. Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels, Belgium from 1997 to 2001.  His earlier positions with the Department of State include service as a Foreign Service Examiner, Senior Watch Officer in the Executive Secretariat Operations Center, and Legislative Management Officer in the Bureau of Legislative Affairs.  Mr. Melville received a B.A. from Boston University and a J.D. from Rutgers University.

 

Peter F. Mulrean, Nominee for Ambassador to the Republic of Haiti, Department of State

Peter F. Mulrean, a career member of the Foreign Service, class of Counselor, is the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, a position he has held since 2012.  Previously, Mr. Mulrean served as Director of Interagency Provincial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012, Counselor for Refugee and Migration Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva from 2008 to 2011, and Regional Director of the Middle East Partnership Initiative at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia from 2004 to 2008.  He also served as Deputy Director of the Office for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy at the Department of State from 2002 to 2004, Deputy Political Counselor at the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium from 1999 to 2002, and Exchange Diplomat at the European Commission in Brussels from 1998 to 1999.  Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he was an English teacher in Japan and China and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco.  Mr. Mulrean received an A.B. from Harvard University.

 

Edwin Richard Nolan, Jr., Nominee for Ambassador to Suriname, Department of State

Edwin Richard Nolan, Jr., a career member of the Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, currently serves as Minister Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, a position he has held since 2013.  Previously, Mr. Nolan served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires ad interim at the U.S. Embassy in The Hague, the Netherlands from 2010 to 2013, Director of the Office of Canadian Affairs in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs from 2008 to 2010, Political Officer in the Office of European Union Affairs in the Bureau of European Affairs from 2007 to 2008, and Deputy Director of the Office of United Kingdom, Benelux, and Ireland in the Bureau of European Affairs from 2005 to 2007.  Mr. Nolan’s earlier assignments include service as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus from 2002 to 2005, Chief of the Political/Economic Section at the U.S. Embassy in Dublin, Ireland from 1998 to 2002, and Deputy Director and Political Officer in the Office of Policy, Planning and Coordination in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs from 1996 to 1998.  Mr. Nolan received a B.A. from Boston College.