Jump to main content

This is historical material “frozen in time”. The website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work.

Search form

Briefing Room

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
May 20, 2015

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:

  • Stephen C. Hedger – Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, Department of Defense
  • W. Thomas Reeder, Jr. – Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
  • Jessica Rosenworcel – Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
  • Luis A. Viada – Member, Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation
  • Akhil Amar – Member, National Council on the Humanities
  • Robert Zimmerman – Member, National Council on the Humanities

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

  • Ron Klain – Member, Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States
  • Gerald S. McGowan – Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy

President Obama said, “I am confident that these outstanding individuals will serve the American people well, and I look forward to working with them.”

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

Stephen C. Hedger, Nominee for Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, Department of Defense
Stephen C. Hedger is Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs at the Department of Defense, a position he has held since April 2015.  From 2014 to 2015 he served as Special Assistant to the President and Senate Legislative Affairs Liaison in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs.  Mr. Hedger was Legislative Director for Senator Claire McCaskill from 2009 to 2014.  Prior to that, Mr. Hedger served as a Legislative Assistant for Senator McCaskill, Delegate Madeleine Bordallo, and Representative Steve Israel.  Mr. Hedger held various positions as an active duty officer in the U.S. Army from 1999 to 2004 with deployments to Kosovo and Iraq.  Mr. Hedger continues to serve in the District of Columbia Army National Guard, currently as a liaison to the Selective Service System.  He also served as an Adjunct Professor at American University’s School of Public Affairs from 2011 to 2013.  Mr. Hedger received a B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center. 
 
W. Thomas Reeder, Jr., Nominee for Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
W. Thomas Reeder, Jr. is Health Care Counsel at the Internal Revenue Service, a position he has held since March 2013.  Previously, Mr. Reeder was Senior Benefits Counsel on the Senate Finance Committee staff from 2009 to 2013.  From 2000 to 2009, he served in numerous capacities in the Office of Tax Policy at the Department of the Treasury, including Benefits Tax Counsel, Deputy Benefits Tax Counsel, Associate Benefits Tax Counsel, and Attorney Advisor.  Prior to that, he was a Partner at Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker, LLP, from 1997 to 2000 after starting as an Associate in 1992.  Mr. Reeder began his legal career as an Associate with Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP in 1987.  Mr. Reeder received a B.A., B.S. Ed., M.B.A., and J.D. from the University of Texas.

Jessica Rosenworcel, Nominee for Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
Jessica Rosenworcel is a Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a position she has held since 2012.  From 2007 to 2012, Ms. Rosenworcel served as Senior Communications Counsel on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.  Prior to working for the U.S. Senate, she worked at the FCC in various legal advisory positions from 1999 to 2007, including Senior Legal Advisor to former Commissioner Michael J. Copps.  She was the Legal Counsel to the Bureau Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau from 2002 to 2003 and from 1999 to 2002, she served as an Attorney-Advisor in the Policy Division of the Common Carrier Bureau.  From 1997 to 1999, Ms. Rosenworcel was a Communications Associate at Drinker Biddle & Reath.  She received a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.

Luis A. Viada, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation
Luis A. Viada is Senior Advisor for the Global Leadership Institute for Meridian International Center, a position he has held since 2015.  Mr. Viada was President of the Global Leadership Institute for Meridian International Center from 2013 to 2015 and was Chief Operating Officer of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation from 2012 to 2013.  He was Executive Vice President of MicroRate from 2010 to 2012.  He was a Senior Vice President of Global Business Development at McGraw-Hill from 1997 to 2010.   Mr. Viada was a Managing Director and Regional Head of Latin America at Standard & Poor’s from 1994 to 1997 after serving as Director of Emerging Markets from 1992 to 1994.  He was a Vice President of International Corporate Banking at Citibank, where he worked from 1976 to 1992 and held various in-country and regional executive positions in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.  Mr. Viada served as a Linguist and Analyst with the U.S. Army Security Agency from 1971 to 1974.  He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation and a past member of the board of Pro Mujer.  Mr. Viada received a B.A. from Tufts University and an M.S. from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
 
Akhil Amar, Nominee for Member, National Council on the Humanities
Akhil Amar is Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, a position he has held since 2008.  He has been a Professor at both Yale Law School and Yale College since 1985 and has held various professorships, including Southmayd Professor from 1993 to 2008, Professor from 1990 to 1993, Associate Professor from 1988 to 1990, and Assistant Professor from 1985 to 1988.  Mr. Amar worked as a law clerk to Judge Stephen Breyer, then of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, from 1984 to 1985.  He is the co-editor of a constitutional law casebook, Processes of Constitutional Decisionmaking, and has written several other books on constitutional law.  Mr. Amar is a member of the Board of Directors of the Constitutional Accountability Center and the Coalition of Freedom Advisory Board of the National Constitution Center.  He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007 and was named a Senior Scholar by the National Constitution Center in 2000.  Mr. Amar received a B.A. from Yale College and a J.D. from Yale Law School.
 
Robert Zimmerman, Nominee for Member, National Council on the Humanities
Robert Zimmerman is a Partner at Zimmerman/Edelson Inc., which he co-founded in 1989.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for an Urban Future in New York City and has been a member of the Democratic National Committee since 2000.  Mr. Zimmerman is a past member of the Board of the American Museum of Natural History, the New York State SAGE Commission, and the New York State Commission on Open Government.  He was a member of the Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts from 1995 to 2001.  Mr. Zimmerman received a B.A. from Brandeis University and an M.B.A. from Fordham University.

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

Ron Klain, Appointee for Member, Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States
Ron Klain is the Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Revolution LLC.  Appointed by President Obama, Mr. Klain served as Ebola Response Coordinator from October 2014 to February 2015.  Mr. Klain has served as Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University since 2011.  From 2009 to 2011, he was Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff for Vice President Joe Biden.  From 1999 to 2004, he was Partner and Practice Group Chair at O’Melveny & Myers LLP.  Mr. Klain served as General Counsel to the Gore Recount Committee in 2000 and was Chief of Staff for Vice President Al Gore from 1995 to 1999.  Mr. Klain previously served as Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Attorney General at the Department of Justice from 1994 to 1995.  Earlier in his career, Mr. Klain served as Associate Counsel to the President at the White House, Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and as a law clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice Byron White.  He is a Member of the Board of Visitors of the Harvard Law School and serves on a number of non-profit and for-profit boards.  Mr. Klain received a B.A. from Georgetown University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
 
Gerald S. McGowan, Appointee for Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy
Gerald S. McGowan is Of Counsel with Lukas, Nace, Gutierrez & Sachs, a position he has held since 2001.  Mr. McGowan served as U.S. Ambassador to Portugal from 1998 to 2001.  He was a founding principal of Lukas, McGowan, Nace & Gutierrez from 1985 to 1997.  Mr. McGowan developed McLang Cellular from 1992 to 1995, and was a co-founder of Integrated Northcoast, Inc. from 1994 to 1998.  He was a clerk to Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas G. Kavanagh from 1974 to 1975, and was an assistant to Senator Phillip A. Hart from 1971 to 1974 and from 1964 to 1968.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of Portugal Telecom, and was previously a member of the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation from 1996 to 1997.  He served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1971 and was a First Lieutenant in 1971.  Mr. McGowan received a B.S. from Georgetown University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.