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:

• Fred Eychaner – General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• David Rubenstein – General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Sam D. Brown – Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• William H. Freeman – Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Lena L. Kennedy – Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• Randy L. Erwin – Member, Federal Salary Council
• Sayeed Choudhury – Member, National Museum and Library Services Board
• Luis Herrera – Member, National Museum and Library Services Board
• Homa Naficy – Member, National Museum and Library Services Board
• Tey Marianna Nunn – Member, National Museum and Library Services Board
• Jane Pickering – Member, National Museum and Library Services Board
• Beth Takekawa – Member, National Museum and Library Services Board
• Sarah Suszczyk – Member, National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations
• William Valdez – Member, National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations  
• Mark Toy – Commissioner, Mississippi River Commission
• Sue Lowry – Federal Commissioner, Red River Compact Commission
• Anna Eleanor Roosevelt – Alternate Commissioner, Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission
• Luis M. Benavides – Member, United States Section of the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission

President Obama said, “I am pleased to announce that these experienced and committed individuals have decided to serve our country.  I look forward to working with them.”

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

Fred Eychaner, Appointee for General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Fred Eychaner is Founder and Chairman of Newsweb Corporation, positions he has held since 1971.  Mr. Eychaner also founded Alphawood Foundation in 1991.  He is on the Board of Directors for the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and served as its Chairperson from 2009 to 2011.  Mr. Eychaner is a Trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Trustee of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, and is also a member of the Asian Art Visiting Committee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  He was first appointed to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2010.  Mr. Eychaner received a B.S.J. from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

David Rubenstein, Appointee for General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

David Rubenstein is Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of The Carlyle Group, positions he has held since 1987.  Mr. Rubenstein served as Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy at the White House from 1977 to 1981 and was an Associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison from 1973 to 1975.  Mr. Rubenstein is President of the Economic Club of Washington, a Chairman-Elect of the Smithsonian Institution, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Duke University.  He is Co-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Brookings Institution, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on numerous other Boards of Trustees including for The University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Institute for Advanced Study, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.  He was first appointed to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2004, reappointed in 2009 and 2013, and elected as Chairman of the Board in 2010.  Mr. Rubenstein received a B.A. from Duke University and a J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School.

Sam D. Brown, Appointee for Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Sam D. Brown is an Executive Vice President at Amalgamated Bank, a position he has held since 2014.  Mr. Brown was Director of the White House Business Council from 2013 to 2014 and Chief of Staff for Organizing for Action in 2013.  He was the Finance Chief of Staff for the Presidential Inaugural Committee in 2013, the Finance Chief of Staff for Obama for America from 2011 to 2012, the Finance Chief of Staff for the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011, and Deputy Finance Director for the Presidential Inaugural Committee in 2009.  From 2004 to 2009, he held various positions as a political and financial consultant.  Mr. Brown received a B.A. from the University of Southern California.

William H. Freeman, Appointee for Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

William H. Freeman is Co-Founder and Chairman of Freeman Webb, Inc., a position he has held since 1979.  Mr. Freeman was Director of Downtown Urban Development for the Metropolitan Nashville Development and Housing Agency from 1978 to 1979.  He serves on the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, the Board of Trustees of the Tennessee State University Foundation, the Board of Directors of the Children’s House, and the Board of Directors of Hydratrek, Inc.  Mr. Freeman also served on the Nashville State Community College Foundation Board of Directors from 2013 to 2014. Mr. Freeman attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Lena L. Kennedy, Appointee for Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Lena L. Kennedy is Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and President of L.L. Kennedy & Associates, Inc., positions she has held since 1998.  Ms. Kennedy is also Founder and Conference Director of the Southern California Women’s Health Conference & Exposition, positions she has held since 2000.  She was Community Outreach Officer and Supervising Program Officer at the Flintridge Foundation from 1989 to 1998.  Ms. Kennedy was appointed as National Co-Chair for the United States African American Leadership Council.  Ms. Kennedy attended the University of California, Los Angeles.

Randy L. Erwin, Appointee for Member, Federal Salary Council

Randy L. Erwin is currently the National Secretary-Treasurer of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), a position he has held since 2015.  Mr. Erwin has served in a variety of positions at NFFE, including Executive Director from 2014 to 2015, Director of Legislative Affairs from 2005 to 2014, and Assistant to the National President from 2001 to 2005.  Mr. Erwin received a B.S. and an M.A. from Georgetown University and an M.A. and M.B.A from Johns Hopkins University.

Sayeed Choudhury, Appointee for Member, National Museum and Library Services Board

Sayeed Choudhury is Associate Dean for Research Data Management and the Hodson Director of the Digital Research and Curation Center at the Sheridan Libraries of Johns Hopkins University, positions he has held since 2011 and 1997, respectively.  Mr. Choudhury served as Senior Presidential Fellow at the Council on Library and Information Resources from 2009 to 2013 and was a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University from 2008 to 2010.  He is a member of the Board of the National Information Standards Organization and the Advisory Board for OpenAIRE2020.  Mr. Choudhury has been a member of the National Academies Board on Research Data and Information, Digital Library Federation Advisory Committee, and the Library of Congress' National Digital Stewardship Alliance Coordinating Committee.  Mr. Choudhury received a B.S. and M.S. from Johns Hopkins University.

Luis Herrera, Appointee for Member, National Museum and Library Services Board

Luis Herrera is City Librarian for the San Francisco Public Library, a position he has held since 2005.  Mr. Herrera worked as Director of Information Services for the City of Pasadena from 1995 to 2005, Deputy Director of Library Services for the City of San Diego from 1989 to 1995, and Associate Director of Library Services for the City of Long Beach from 1983 to 1989.  He was Assistant Coordinator of Extension Services for the El Paso Public Library from 1979 to 1983.  Mr. Herrera is a founding board member of the Digital Public Library of America.  He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Latino Community Foundation and previously served as Chair of the California Council for the Humanities.  Mr. Herrera was named the Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year in 2012.  Hewas first appointed to the National Museum and Library Services Board in 2012.  Mr. Herrera received a B.S. from the University of Texas at El Paso, an M.L.S. from the University of Arizona, and an M.P.A. from California State University, Long Beach.

Homa Naficy, Appointee for Member, National Museum and Library Services Board

Homa Naficy is Chief Adult Learning Officer at Hartford Public Library, where she has worked since 2000.  Ms. Naficy served as Library Consultant at the Hebrew Home for the Aged in 1999 and as an Adult and Outreach Services Librarian in the Westchester Library System from 1995 to 1999.  She was a Reference Librarian at several libraries, including the White Plains Public Library, Yonkers Public Library, Newark Public Library, and New Rochelle Public Library.  Ms. Naficy is Founder and Director of The American Place, a program designed for Hartford’s immigrant and refugee community.  She was named a White House Champion of Change in 2013 and was awarded the Connecticut Immigrant of the Year Award in 2001.  Ms. Naficy received a B.A. from American University of Paris and an M.L.S. from Rutgers University.

Dr. Tey Marianna Nunn, Appointee for Member, National Museum and Library Services Board

Dr. Tey Marianna Nunn is Director and Chief Curator of the Art Museum and Visual Arts Program at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, a position she has held since 2006.  Dr. Nunn wasCurator for Contemporary Hispano and Latino collections at the Museum of International Folk Art from 1997 to 2006.  She is a Trustee on the Board of El Rancho de las Golondrinas, and was a member of the Boards of Trustees for the American Alliance of Museums and the Western States Arts Federation.  Dr. Nunn received a B.A. from the University of Nevada, Reno and an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico.

Jane Pickering, Appointee for Member, National Museum and Library Services Board

Jane Pickering is Executive Director of the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture, a position she has held since 2013.  Ms. Pickering worked at Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History as Deputy Director from 2004 to 2013 and Assistant Director for Public Programs from 2002 to 2004.  She was Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Museum from 1998 to 2002, Senior Curator at the Museums of the Royal College of Surgeons of England from 1997 to 1998, and Assistant Curator of Zoological Collections at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History from 1989 to 1997.  Ms. Pickering received an M.A. from the University of Cambridge and an M.Sc. from the University of Leicester.

Beth Takekawa, Appointee for Member, National Museum and Library Services Board

Beth Takekawa is Executive Director of the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience (The Wing), a position she has held since 2008.  Ms. Takekawa served as The Wing’s Chief Executive Officer in 2007 and was Associate Director from 1997 to 2006.  She was appointed by the Governor of Washington to serve as a Commissioner on the Washington State Arts Commission from 2009 to 2015, and serves on the board of the Downtown Seattle Association and International District Emergency Center.  Ms. Takekawa is a 2011 Salzburg Global Seminars Fellow, and was a member on the National Planning Committee for the Minidoka National Historic Site.  Ms. Takekawa attended the University of Minnesota Twin-Cities and received a B.A. from Hunter College of the City University of New York.

Sarah Suszczyk, Appointee for Member, National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations

Sarah Suszczyk serves as Federal Director of the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE), SEIU, a position she has held since 2013.  Since 2016, she has also served as the co-chair of the Federal Workers Alliance.  Ms. Suszczyk joined NAGE in 2008 and has held various positions including: Federal Deputy Director from 2011 to 2013; Regional Counsel from 2009 to 2011; and Assistant Regional Counsel from 2008 to 2009.  Prior to joining NAGE, she worked in private practice serving as an Associate Attorney at Severn, O’Connor & Kresslein, PA from 2007 to 2008 and at the Law Offices of Charles E. Ganley, LLC from 2005 to 2007.  Ms. Suszczyk received her B.A. from the University of Colorado and her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law.

William Valdez, Appointee for Member, National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations

William Valdez serves as President of the Senior Executive Association, Inc., a position he assumed in 2016.  Since 2014, Mr. Valdez has served as Senior Vice President of the Consultants International Group, Inc. and as a Principal at Deep Water Point, LLC.  He has been a member of the Adjunct Faculty at American University’s School of Public Affairs since 2013 where he specializes in Federal government evaluation and strategic planning.  From 1994 to 2014, Mr. Valdez served at the United States Department of Energy, holding several positions including: Acting Director in the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity; Director of Business Services in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; and Director of Planning and Analysis and Director for Workforce Development in the Office of Science.  He was elected to the Senior Executive Association’s Board of Directors in 2005 and served as Chairman from 2011 to 2013.  Mr. Valdez received a B.A. from the University of Texas and an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Brigadier General Mark Toy, Appointee for Commissioner, Mississippi River Commission

Brigadier General Mark Toy is Commanding General of the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a position he has held since 2016.  General Toy has held numerous positions with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including Commanding General of the South Pacific Division from 2014 to 2016, Chief of Staff from 2013 to 2014, and District Commander of the Los Angeles District from 2010 to 2013.  He served as Chief of the Engineer Branch of the Officer Personnel Management Directorate of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command from 2007 to 2009 and Commander for the 84th Engineer Combat Battalion from 2005 to 2007.  General Toy received a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point, an M.S. from Boston University, an M.S. from the University of California at Los Angeles, and an M.S. from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

Sue Lowry, Appointee for Federal Commissioner, Red River Compact Commission

Sue Lowry is the owner of Avocet Consult, LLC, where she consults on water management and resource policy issues.  Ms. Lowry worked in the Wyoming State Engineer’s Office from 1988 to 2016, serving as an Interstate Streams Engineer from 1988 to 1995, Director of Policy and Administration from 1995 to 2002, and Administrator of the Interstate Streams Division from 2002 until her retirement in 2016.  Ms. Lowry served on the Western States Water Council from 2001 to 2016 and was President of the Interstate Council on Water Policy from 2006 to 2007 and 2011.  Governor Matt Mead appointed Ms. Lowry to be Wyoming’s Commissioner on the Bear River and Yellowstone River Compact Commissions in 2012. Ms. Lowry received a B.S in Agricultural Economics and an M.S. in Range Management and Water Resources from the University of Wyoming.

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, Appointee for Alternate Commissioner, Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission  

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt is Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill Industries of Northern New England, a position she has held since 2011.  Ms. Roosevelt was Vice President for Global Corporate Citizenship at The Boeing Company from 2006 to 2011 and Director of Community and Education Relations at Boeing World Headquarters from 2001 to 2005.  She served as Executive Director of the Brain Research Foundation at the University of Chicago from 1999 to 2001 and was an Independent Consultant in the Mayor’s Office of Program Development for the City of Chicago from 1996 to 1998.  Ms. Roosevelt was Executive Director of Museums in the Park from 1991 to 1996 and Administrator and Program Director at the Center for Scandinavian Studies at North Park College from 1986 to 1988.  She is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Roosevelt Institute, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Jim Browne Foundation and the Maine Community Foundation.  Ms. Roosevelt received an A.B. from Stanford University and an M.S. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Dr. Luis M. Benavides, Appointee for Member, United States Section of the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission

Dr. Luis M. Benavides is Co-Founder and President of Laredo Premier Healthcare, positions he has held since 2016.  Dr. Benavides is also an Attending Physician at Laredo Specialty Hospital, Providence Medical and Surgical Center, and Doctors Hospital of Laredo, positions he has held since 2007, 2003, and 1982, respectively.  He is Medical Director for both Nurses on Wheels Hospice and Regent Care Nursing Home, positions he has held since 2003 and 1990, respectively.  Dr. Benavides was a Solo Practitioner from 1982 to 2016 and was previously a member of the Texas Medical Association Council on Legislation.  He is Vice Chairman of Texas Medical Association Border Health Caucus.  Dr. Benavides received a B.A. from University of Texas at Austin and an M.D. from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.