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 The website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work.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

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 1/20/10

WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key administration posts:

  • Katherine G. Hammack, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations and Environment), Department of Defense
  • Theodore Sedgwick, Ambassador to the Slovak Republic, Department of State
  • Dennis P. Walsh, Chairman, Special Panel on Appeals

President Obama said, “I’m pleased that these fine individuals have chosen to serve in my administration, and I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years.”

President Obama announced today his intent to nominate the following individuals:

Katherine G. Hammack, Nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations and Environment), Department of Defense
Katherine G. Hammack has more than 25 years of experience as an energy and sustainability professional with private industry. Currently she is a leader in Ernst & Young’s (EY’s) Climate Change and Sustainability Services, an international professional services firm. At EY she has focused on the evaluation of energy conservation projects, green buildings, energy efficiency strategies, demand side management programs, and marketing electricity in deregulated markets. In that capacity she worked with clients to obtain Energy Star or LEED certification for their new construction or existing buildings. Katherine was the key LEED advisor on the world’s largest LEED-NC certified project (8.3 million square feet). Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Katherine was a marketing manager for a large electric utility, focused on services for architects and engineers. Katherine is a founding member of US Green Building Council in Washington, D.C. She was a consultant to the White House on the "Greening" of the White House and Executive Office Building where she led the group focused on Indoor Environmental Quality issues. Ms. Hammack has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Oregon State University and an M.B.A. from the University of Hartford. She is a Certified Energy Manager and LEED Accredited Professional.

Theodore Sedgwick, Nominee for Ambassador to the Slovak Republic, Department of State
Theodore Sedgwick is a business executive with experience in the publishing and timber industries. He founded Pasha Publications, a specialty publisher focused on energy, defense and environment markets, and served as its chief executive for 20 years. More recently, he founded Io Energy, an online energy information company covering the natural gas, coal and electricity industries. He was president of Red Hills Lumber Co., a producer of pine flooring. Mr. Sedgwick serves on a number of private company boards, including Inside Higher Ed, Atlantic Information Services, and Washington Business Information Inc. He has served on the boards of a number of cultural institutions including the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Shakespeare Theater Co. and the Gennadius Library in Athens, Greece. He has also served on the boards of a number of land preservation organizations, including the Civil War Preservation Trust, which he chaired in 2006-2009, and Wetlands America Trust, an affiliate of Ducks Unlimited. He is on the National Council of the Land Trust Alliance. Mr. Sedgwick is a member of the Chief Executives Organization, an organization of global business leaders. He graduated with honors from Harvard College, cum laude, where he majored in Ottoman History.

Dennis P. Walsh, Nominee for Chairman, Special Panel on Appeals
Dennis P. Walsh is currently the Deputy General Counsel at the Federal Labor Relations Authority. Mr. Walsh previously served as a Member of the National Labor Relations Board on three different occasions. He was a Board Member from 2000 to 2001, from 2002 to 2004, and from 2006 to 2007. Previously, Mr. Walsh held several staff positions at the NLRB. He was Chief Counsel to NLRB Member Wilma B. Liebman from 1997 to 2000 and to former Member Margaret A. Browning from 1994 to 1997. From 1989 to 1994, Mr. Walsh practiced law with Spear, Wilderman, Borish, Endy, Browning & Spear, a Philadelphia firm. He has been an Adjunct Professor of Labor Law at Howard University School of Law for several years. Mr. Walsh holds a J.D. from Cornell Law School and a B.A. from Hamilton College.