President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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

• Micah Fialka-Feldman – Member, President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities
• Betty Williams – Member, President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities
• Elie Wiesel – Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council
• Donald L. Pereira – Commissioner, United States Section of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission
• Tod Sedgwick – Member, World War I Centennial Commission

President Obama said, “These fine public servants bring a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their important roles.  I look forward to working with them.” 

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

Micah Fialka-Feldman, Appointee for Member, President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities

Micah Fialka-Feldman is a Teaching Assistant at Syracuse University, a position he has held since 2012.  Mr. Fialka-Feldman was an intern at the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities at the Department of Health and Human Services in 2013.  He has served on the Governing Board for National Youth Leadership Network and the National Project Advisory Committee for the Center for Postsecondary Education for Students with Intellectual Disabilities.  Additionally, Mr. Fialka-Feldman maintains a blog about the challenges he faces as an adult with intellectual disabilities.  He received a Certificate in Disability Studies from Syracuse University in 2015 and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Family Voices in 2009.  Mr. Fialka-Feldman was first appointed as a member of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities in 2014.  He graduated from the Options Program at Oakland University.

Betty Williams, Appointee for Member, President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities

Betty Williams is a Consumer Education and Training Coordinator at The Arc of Indiana, a position she has held since 2006.  Ms. Williams worked at Achieva Resources as a Workshop Consumer from 2005 to 2006, and as a Habilitation Specialist from 2000 to 2004.  She previously served as President and Secretary of Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered.  Ms. Williams was also a Lay Member of the Indiana Developmental Disabilities Commission and President of Self Advocates of Indiana from 2005 to 2010.  Ms. Williams was first appointed as a member of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities in 2014.

Elie Wiesel, Appointee for Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council
Elie Wiesel is President and Co-Founder of The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, positions he has held since 1986.  Mr. Wiesel is a writer, political and human rights activist, and a Holocaust survivor.  He was formerly the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University from 1976 to 2013 and the author of a number of works of fiction and non-fiction.  Night, his memoir based on his experiences in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps, is considered among the most important works of Holocaust literature.  Mr. Wiesel was appointed as Chairman of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust in 1978.  In 1980, he became the Founding Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and has continuously served as a Presidential appointee on the Council.  Mr. Wiesel was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States Congressional Gold Medal, and the rank of Grand Officer in the French Legion of Honor.  Mr. Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.

Dr. Donald L. Pereira, Appointee for Commissioner, United States Section of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission

Dr. Donald L. Pereira is Chief of the Section of Fisheries at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, a position he has held since 2013.  Dr. Pereira has worked at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources since 1983, serving as Fisheries Research and Policy Manager, Fisheries Research Program Supervisor, and Senior Fisheries Research Biologist.  He was a Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant at the University of Minnesota from 1987 to 1991.  ‎Dr. Pereira was appointed to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission in 2014.  Dr. Pereira received a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Vermont and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Fisheries from the University of Minnesota, St. Paul.

Tod Sedgwick, Appointee for Member, World War I Centennial Commission  

Tod Sedgwick is a Fellow at the Transatlantic Center at The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Study and a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, positions he has held since 2015.  Mr. Sedgwick previously served as U.S. Ambassador to the Slovak Republic from 2010 to 2015.  From 1987 to 2010, Mr. Sedgwick was President and CEO of Sedgwick Publishing Co.  During that period, he was also President and CEO of Red Hills Lumber Co. from 2000 to 2008 and Director of Sedgwick Land Company from 1992 to 1998.  In 2001, he founded IO Energy, an online energy information company covering the natural gas, coal, and electricity industries, and served as its Chairman from 2001 to 2004.  He also founded Pasha Publications, a specialty publisher focused on energy, defense and environment markets, and served as the chief executive from 1978 to 1998.  Since 2015, Mr. Sedgwick has served on the Board of Directors for the Slovak American Foundation.  He is also a Trustee for the Institute of Current World Affairs.  He has previously served on the Board of Directors for the Folger Shakespeare Library, Shakespeare Theater Co., the Civil War Preservation Trust, and the Wetlands America Trust.  Mr. Sedgwick received an A.B. from Harvard College.