Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key administration posts:
· Dana K. Bilyeu, Member, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
· Michael Kennedy, Member, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
· JoAnn Lynn Balzer, Member, Board of Trustees of the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development
· Cynthia Chavez Lamar, Member, Board of Trustees of the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development
· Daryl J. Boness, Chairman, Marine Mammal Commission
· Michael F. Tillman, Member, Marine Mammal Commission
· John Coppola, Member, National Museum and Library Services Board, National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities
· Carla D. Hayden, Member, National Museum and Library Services Board, National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities
· Winston Tabb, Member, National Museum and Library Services Board, National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities
· Robert Wedgeworth, Member, National Museum and Library Services Board, National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities
· Hernán D. Vera, Member, Board of Directors of the State Justice Institute
President Obama has also appointed one individual to serve on the U.S. Commission of the International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico, and intends to appoint one individual to serve on the President's Commission on White House Fellows. Their names and bios are below.
President Obama said, "These individuals will bring proven talent and dedication to their roles. I am grateful they have chosen to serve in my administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead."
President Obama announced today his intent to nominate the following individuals:
Dana K. Bilyeu, Nominee for Member, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
Dana K. Bilyeu has served as the Executive Officer of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Nevada since October of 2003. She is responsible for all aspects of fund management including analysis of plan funding, investment oversight, operational and strategic planning, as well as fiduciary and governance issues. Mrs. Bilyeu served for eight years, beginning in 1995, as the System's Operations Officer, managing all aspects of benefit administration, including survivor, disability, and retirement programs. Preceding her tenure at the System, Mrs. Bilyeu was assigned in 1989 as the Retirement System's legal counsel in the Office of the Nevada Attorney General and served in that capacity until her appointment as Operations Officer. In 2006, Mrs. Bilyeu was nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate to the Social Security Advisory Board. Mrs. Bilyeu is a member of the executive committee of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, is a member of the National Council on Teacher Retirement, the National Conference of Public Employee Retirement Systems, the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys and the Public Employees' Board of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. She received her juris doctor from California Western School of Law in 1985 and her B.A. from the University of Arizona in 1982.
Michael Kennedy, Nominee for Member, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
Michael Kennedy is a Senior Client Partner at Korn/Ferry International and a member of the firm's Global Financial Services Practice based in Atlanta. Prior to joining Korn/Ferry, he founded and led Venture South, a private equity advisory firm. Previously, he served as a Vice President in the Corporate Finance Group at GE Capital Corporation and, prior to that, as a Vice President for Wachovia Corporation's US. Corporate Finance Group. Mr. Kennedy began his financial services career in investment management at J.P. Morgan & Company in New York. Mr. Kennedy has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Employees Retirement System's pension fund since 2000, serving as its Chairman from 2000 to 2005. He also is currently Chairman of the Board of Visitors at the University of North Carolina, and is an active member of the Atlanta Venture Forum and the National Association of Securities Professionals. Mr. Kennedy holds a B.A. with highest honors in history and political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
JoAnn Lynn Balzer, Nominee for Member, Board of Trustees of the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development
JoAnn Lynn Balzer, a community leader and arts advocate, helped found the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, the Institute of American Indian Arts Foundation, the Museum of Spanish Colonial Arts, the Code of the West Foundation, and the Center for Cowboy Ethics and Leadership in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Ms. Balzer currently serves on the boards of the Lensic Performing Arts Center, the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market and is an advisory trustee of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. Balzer formerly served on the boards of the Southwest Museum and Autry National Center in Los Angeles, Creative Santa Fe, and New Mexico Women in the Arts, and was Executive Director of the Institute of American Indian Arts, Code of the West, and Center for Cowboy Ethics and Leadership Foundations. In 2003, she was appointed by Governor Bill Richardson to serve as President of the New Mexico Film Museum and as a Commissioner of the state arts agency. In addition to her educational experience teaching mathematics at Pepperdine University and Pennsylvania State University, she has twenty-five years of technology and business experience with IBM. Balzer is a magna cum laude graduate of Westminster College, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematics with a minor in education, and holds a Master's of Science in mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University.
Cynthia Chavez Lamar, Nominee for Member, Board of Trustees of the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development.
