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The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 12/02/09

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

  • Rosemary DiCarlo, United States Deputy Representative to the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador, United States Mission to the United Nations
  • Brooke D. Anderson, Alternate Representative of the United States of America for Special Political Affairs to the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador and to be an Alternate Representative of the United States of America to the Sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations during her tenure of service as Alternate Representative of the United States of America for Special Political Affairs in the United Nations, United States Mission to the United Nations
  • Douglas B. Wilson, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, Department of Defense
  • Malcolm Ross O'Neill, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology), Department of Defense
  • Jackalyne Pfannenstiel, Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Installations and Environment), Department of Defense
  • Donald L. Cook, Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs, National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy

President Obama said, “I am honored that these talented individuals have decided to join my administration and serve our country, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

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

Rosemary DiCarlo, Nominee for United States Deputy Representative to the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador
Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo has served as U.S. Alternate Representative to the United Nations since August 2008.  Previously, she was Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs from 2005-2008.  A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, she served as Director for United Nations Affairs at the National Security Council and as the Washington Deputy to the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations.  Ms. DiCarlo also held the position of U.S. Coordinator for Stability Pact Implementation (Southeast Europe) at the Department of State.  In addition to two assignments at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Ms. DiCarlo worked as Director for Democratic Initiatives in the Office of U.S. Assistance to the New Independent States at the Department of State.  Earlier in her career she served as Coordinator for Russian/Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. Information Agency and at the U.S. Embassy in Norway.  Ms. DiCarlo holds State Department Superior Honor Awards for her work in the New Independent States and Southeast Europe.  She speaks fluent Russian and French.  Before joining the Foreign Service, Ms. DiCarlo was a member of the Secretariat of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).  She holds a B.A., an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Brown University. A former associate at the Russian Research Center, Harvard University, Ms. DiCarlo was also an International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) scholar at Moscow State University.

Brooke D. Anderson, Nominee for Alternate Representative of the United States of America for Special Political Affairs in the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador 
Brooke D. Anderson currently serves as Chief of Staff and Counselor to Ambassador Susan E. Rice at the United States Mission to the United Nations.  With more than 20 years experience working in the public policy arena, Ms. Anderson has worked at the White House National Security Council, the U.S. Department of Energy, for members of Congress and in the nonprofit and private sectors.  Ms. Anderson was Chief National Security Spokesperson and Policy Advisor for the Obama-Biden Transition Team and a member of the White House National Security Council Transition Team.  Ms. Anderson previously worked for the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a nonprofit co-chaired by former Senator Sam Nunn and Ted Turner, which focuses on reducing global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.  While at the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton, Ms. Anderson was Senior Director for Communications and Special Assistant for National Security Affairs. Ms. Anderson has worked on congressional and presidential campaigns, including Senator John Kerry’s 2004 Presidential campaign.  She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1986.

Douglas B. Wilson, Nominee for Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, Department of Defense
Douglas B. Wilson currently serves as Executive Vice President of the Howard Gilman Foundation, overseeing the development and implementation of the Foundation’s domestic and international policy programs, including the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Initiative.  Mr. Wilson also serves as President of The Leaders Project, which he co-founded in 2001 with former Defense Secretary William Cohen, and as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Public Diplomacy Collaborative at Harvard University.  From 1997-1999, Mr. Wilson served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.  He spent a year as National Political Director of the Democratic Leadership Council before returning to the Pentagon in the summer of 2000 to become Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.  During his tenure at the Pentagon, Mr. Wilson coordinated communications and long-range public affairs strategy on issues including defense reform, base closures, NATO expansion and military quality of life.  He was twice presented the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the Pentagon's top civilian honor.  Mr. Wilson has also served as Director of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs for the U.S. Information Agency and as foreign policy advisor to U.S. Senator Gary Hart.  Mr. Wilson began his career as a Foreign Service Information Officer at U.S. diplomatic posts in Naples, Rome, and London.  He serves on the Boards of Directors of Third Way, The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy and the National Security Network.  Mr. Wilson graduated from Stanford University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Malcolm Ross O'Neill, Nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology), Department of Defense
Lt. Gen (ret.) Malcolm O'Neill is currently a consultant and Chairman of the Board on Army Science and Technology of the National Academies.  He is responsible for leading a team of scientists, engineers, and policy experts who discern key Army technical issues and define the areas in which studies by the National Research Council can assist the Army to exploit advanced technologies in Army systems.  From 2000 until his retirement in 2006, Lt. Gen O’Neill was Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of Lockheed Martin Corporation and provided staff supervision for Lockheed Martin’s approximately 60,000 engineers and scientists, planned the independent R&D investment portfolio across the corporation, and sponsored cooperative technology development efforts with GE Global Research Center and Sandia National Laboratory.  He previously served at Lockheed Martin as Vice President, Mission Success and Operations, in the Space and Strategic Missiles Sector, where he was responsible for the establishment of processes and practices which ensured that space and strategic missile systems would perform at the highest levels of reliability and effectiveness.  Before joining Lockheed Martin, Lt. Gen O’Neill served in the U.S. Army for 34 years, where he completed a combat arms tour as an infantryman, was wounded twice in Vietnam, and later reverted to Army Ordnance and became a uniformed acquisition specialist.  He received a Ph.D. in Physics from Rice University in Houston, was a program manager for DARPA, NATO, the Army, and the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization.  He commanded the Army Laboratory Command and served in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research, Development and Acquisition.  Lt. Gen O’Neill’s last military assignment was as Director of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, reporting directly to Under Secretary of Defense.  He is an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; he is also a Member of the National Academy of Engineering.   

Jackalyne Pfannenstiel, Nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Installations and Environment), Department of Defense
Jackalyne Pfannenstiel is the former Chairman of the State of California Energy Commission, a state regulatory body with authority over power plant licensing, building and appliance efficiency standards, and energy policy development.   Ms. Pfannenstiel was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to a five-year term on the Commission in 2004 and served until January 2009.  Her responsibilities included licensing of new generating facilities and development of California’s integrated plan to meet the State’s goals for capping greenhouse gas emissions.  She chaired the Governor’s Climate Action Team subgroup on Energy and Land Use and worked on the creation of California’s low carbon fuel standards.  Ms. Pfannenstiel also spearheaded implementation of the state’s new solar home initiative, creating a working group comprised of home builders and solar industry companies.  Prior to her role at the Energy Commission, Ms. Pfannenstiel served as an independent energy consultant, providing assistance to wind energy development projects, as well as helping local housing authorities manage energy costs in public housing facilities.  Previously, Ms. Pfannenstiel spent 20 years at Pacific Gas and Electric Company and its parent, PG&E Corporation.   In 1987, she was promoted to Vice President of Strategic Planning at PG&E, the first woman to become a corporate officer.   In 1988, she led the company’s participation in a multi-party energy efficiency collaborative proceeding which produced many of California’s innovative regulatory policies promoting energy efficiency and demand response.  Ms. Pfannenstiel is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of Clark University and chairs the committee on university facilities.  She is also a Director of Energy Recovery, Inc., a company that makes efficient flow devices for seawater desalination plants.  Ms. Pfannenstiel graduated from Clark University with a B.A. in Economics and the University of Hartford with a M.A. in Economics.

Donald L. Cook, Nominee for Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs, National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy
Dr. Donald L. Cook was the Managing Director of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in the United Kingdom from 2006 to 2009.  In this capacity, he was accountable for AWE’s performance on the contract with the U.K. Ministry of Defence, which includes support of the U.K. Trident warheads and development and sustainment of capability in nuclear weapon design, development, manufacturing, qualification, assembly, transport, support in service, and finally, decommissioning, dismantlement, and disposal.  Prior to heading AWE, Dr. Cook worked at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico for 28 years in Pulsed Power Sciences, Microtechnologies, Infrastructure, and Security.  From 1999-2006, he was Director of the MESA Program Center, accountable for design and construction of the Microsystems and Engineering Sciences Applications (MESA) complex.  In 2003, he assumed Program Director responsibilities for Sandia’s Infrastructure Program and for Sandia’s Safeguards and Security Technologies Program, which responded to a new Design Basis Threat.  From 1977-1999, Dr. Cook led efforts in pulsed power accelerator design and experimentation, fusion research, hydrodynamics, radiography, diagnostic development, and computational code development.  He managed the Sandia Inertial Confinement Fusion program from 1984-1993 and was Director of Pulsed Power Sciences from 1993-1999.  Dr. Cook is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Institute of Physics (IOP).