THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
__________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2009
President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts
WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key administration posts:
• Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, United States Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council, with rank of Ambassador, United States Mission to the United Nations
• Laura Kennedy, United States Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, with the rank of Ambassador, Department of State
President Obama will also appoint four individuals to serve on the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission. Their names and bios are below.
President Obama said, “These individuals will be important additions to our administration as we work to put our nation back on a path to prosperity and make our world more secure. I am grateful for their decision to serve and look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”
President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals today:
Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, Nominee for Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations Human Rights Council, with rank of Ambassador
Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe is an Affiliated Scholar at the Center for international Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. Her research has focused on norms on use of force, UN reform, and the international rule of law. Her 2006 Ph.D. dissertation entitled: “Humanitarian Military Intervention: The Moral Imperative Versus the Rule of Law,” addressed conflicting legal and ethical justifications for humanitarian military intervention. Previously, Ms. Donahoe was a litigation associate at Fenwick & West in Silicon Valley, where she served technology clients in intellectual property and commercial disputes. Prior to that, she was a teaching fellow at Stanford Law School and law clerk to the Honorable William H. Orrick. Ms. Donahoe has worked with various human rights organizations including The Lawyer’s Committee for Human Rights, where she did research on the nexus between US foreign policy and human rights, and Amnesty International’s Ginetta Sagan Fund, where she did strategy work related to human rights concerns of women and children. She received her B.A. from Dartmouth College, a Masters in Theology from Harvard University, her J.D. from Stanford Law School, an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Stanford University, and her Ph.D. in Ethics from the University of California’s Graduate Theological Union.
Laura E. Kennedy, Nominee for Representative of the United States to the Conference on Disarmament, with the rank of Ambassador, Department of State
Laura E. Kennedy, a member of the Senior Foreign Service, was most recently Deputy Commandant at the National War College since 2007. Prior to that, she was a member of the State Department’s Board of Examiners from 2005-2007. From 2004-2005 she was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR). She served as the Dean of the State Department’s Senior Seminar from 2004-2005. Ms. Kennedy was Ambassador to Turkmenistan from 2001-2003 where she focused on support for civil society as well as support for operations in neighboring Afghanistan. She was the Deputy Chief of Mission, United States Mission to the United Nations in Vienna from 1998-2001. From 1995-1997 she was the Director of the Office of Central Eurasian Affairs. She has also held postings in Moscow (twice), Vienna (to the negotiations on conventional forces in Europe) and Ankara. She has been detailed as charge at the new U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, as a guide at an official exchange exhibit in Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Tajikistan. Ms. Kennedy holds a B.A. from Vassar College and an M.A. from American University.