President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 7-22-09

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

President Obama said, "I am grateful that these distinguished and experienced individuals have agreed to serve in my administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead to meet our nation’s most pressing challenges."

Dennis F. Hightower, Nominee for Deputy Secretary, Department of Commerce
Dennis F. Hightower is a seasoned business executive with extensive global general management experience.  His distinguished career spans the private and public sectors, including more than 30 years of experience in global marketing, strategic planning, operations and international general management.  Most recently, Mr. Hightower was chief executive officer of Europe Online Networks S.A., a privately held broadband interactive entertainment company based in Luxembourg.  From 1987 to 1996, Mr. Hightower was a senior executive of The Walt Disney Company, where he led multi-billion dollar enterprises as president of Walt Disney Television & Communications and president of Consumer Products, Europe/Middle East and Africa.  Mr. Hightower has made a continuing commitment to training future business leaders as a former professor of management at Harvard Business School, where he focused on leadership, building emerging markets and global general management.  He has also been a guest lecturer at business schools throughout the world including IMD in Switzerland, INSEAD in France and the London Business School; and at the US Military Academy (Bicentennial) and the USMA Preparatory School.  Mr. Hightower most recently served on the Boards of Directors of Accenture, Domino’s Pizza, Lightfleet (a start-up high technology company), and privately-held Brown Capital Management.  He has formerly served as a board member of The Gillette Company, Northwest Airlines, PanAmSat Corporation, Phillip-Van Heusen Corporation, The TJX Companies, Inc., and as a member of the Price Waterhouse Chairman’s Advisory Council.  Previously, Mr. Hightower has demonstrated a willingness to serve his country as a decorated Vietnam veteran and as a member of the Defense Business Board.  Mr. Hightower was a Regular Army officer for eight years, rising to the rank of Major by age 27.  While on active duty he was awarded numerous decorations for meritorious achievement and valor.  Mr. Hightower holds an M.B.A. degree from the Harvard Business School and a B.S. degree and honorary doctorate from Howard University. He received the Alumni Achievement Award in Business from Howard University in 1986, the Alumni Achievement Award from Harvard Business School in 1992, and the U.S. Department of Commerce Pioneer Award in 1996.

Jeffrey Goldstein, Nominee for Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, Department of the Treasury
Jeffrey Goldstein is a Managing Director of Hellman & Friedman LLC, a private equity investment firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and London.  Mr. Goldstein served at the World Bank from 1999 to 2004, where he served as Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer.  He oversaw the Bank's work with its client countries in strengthening financial and capital market systems.  Mr. Goldstein was the Bank's point person on the International Development Association (IDA).  He also helped lead the Bank's relationship with the G-8 countries.   As Chief Financial Officer, he was responsible for the Bank's financial operations and budget.  He was the Bank's representative on the Financial Stability Forum and on the International Monetary Fund's Capital Markets Consultative Group and Chairman of the Pension Finance Committee.  Prior to joining the World Bank, Mr. Goldstein was Co-Chairman of BT Wolfensohn and a member of the Bankers Trust Company Management Committee.  He held senior management positions and worked with BT Wolfensohn and its predecessor, James D. Wolfensohn Incorporated, for more than 15 years.  Early in his career, Mr. Goldstein taught economics at Princeton University and worked at the Brookings Institution and the U. S. Department of the Treasury.  Mr. Goldstein received his Ph.D., M.Phil., and M.A. in economics from Yale University.  He received his B.A. with honors in economics from Vassar College (Phi Beta Kappa) and attended the London School of Economics.  Mr. Goldstein is a member of the Board of LPL Holdings Inc., AlixPartners LLP and Grosvenor Capital Management and the Board of Trustees of the International Center for Research on Women.  He is also on the Board of Trustees of Vassar College and is Chairman of the Vassar College Investments Committee.  He is also a member of the Brookings Institution Global Leadership Council, The London School of Economics North American Advisory Board and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Alberto M. Fernandez, Nominee for Nominee for Ambassador to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Department of State
Alberto M. Fernandez has served as US Charge d’Affaires to the Republic of Sudan from June 2007 to May 2009.  He has served as Director for Near East Public Diplomacy from 2005-2007, Director for Iraq Public Diplomacy from 2004-2005.  A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Mr. Fernandez has also held senior public diplomacy positions at the US embassies in Afghanistan, Jordan, Syria and Guatemala.  Mr. Fernandez was also a foreign service officer in Iraq, Kuwait, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and the United Arab Emirates and as USIA Desk Officer for Egypt, Yemen and Sudan.   He is a graduate of the 46th (2003-2004) Senior Seminar, the State Department’s premier senior management course.   Mr. Fernandez served in the U.S. Army and is a graduate of the University of Arizona and the Defense Language Institute.

Jose W. Fernandez, Nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs, Department of State
Jose W. Fernandez is a partner at the law firm of Latham & Watkins LLP.  For nearly three decades, his practice has focused on international commercial and banking law, chiefly in the areas of foreign investments, acquisitions and financings.  Mr. Fernandez has also advised corporations, private equity firms and state-owned enterprises in privatizations, securities offerings, joint ventures and arbitrations in many emerging markets.  A substantial part of his work has involved infrastructure projects in the telecommunications, oil and gas, electricity, water, aviation and mining sectors in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Mr. Fernandez has been chair both of the American Bar Association’s Interamerican Law Committee and the Committee on Interamerican Affairs of the New York City Bar Association, and co-chair of the Cross Border M&A and Joint Ventures Committee of the New York State Bar Association.  He currently heads the Latin American and Caribbean division of the ABA’s Rule of Law Initiative.  Mr. Fernandez serves on the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College, and on the Board of Directors of Accion International, the Council of the Americas and TeatroStageFest (which he co-founded), among others.  He is also a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and a Commissioner in the New York City Latin Media and Entertainment Commission.  Mr. Fernandez is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Columbia Law School.