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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release March 9, 1993

PRESIDENT NAMES OFFICIALS AT AGRICULTURE, EDUCATION, AND HUD

(Washington, DC) The President made eight senior personnel announcements today, expressing his intention to nominate a group of experts from around the country to posts at the Departments of Agriculture, Education, and Housing and Urban Development.

Named today were the following:

Department of Agriculture

James Gilliland, General Counsel
James Lyons, Assistant Secretary (Natural Resources and

Environment)
Bob Nash, Under Secretary for Small Community and Rural

Development

Department of Education

Judith Heumann, Assistant Secretary for Special Education and

Rehabilitative Services
Dr. Augusta Kappner, Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult

Education
Dr. Thomas Payzant, Assistant Secretary for Elementary and

Secondary Education
Dr. Marshall Smith, Under Secretary

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Nicolas Retsinas, Assistant Secretary (Federal Housing

Commission)

"I am committed to bringing people into the federal government who've made a difference in states and communities around the country," said the President. "This is a group of people who truly meet that standard."

Biographical sketches of the nominees are attached.

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                BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF NOMINEES
                          March 9, 1993

James Gilliland an attorney with longstanding experience in the commodities field, is the Senior Partner at the Memphis firm of Glanker, Brown, Gilliland, Chase, Robinson & Raines, which he has been associated with since 1963. For the past twenty years, he has been outside counsel to Dunavant Enterprises, Inc., the world's largest cotton company. His practice has given him extensive contact with the Department of Agriculture, as well as with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, various foreign agriculture departments, and the Congressional agriculture committees. He received his undergraduate and legal educations at Vanderbilt University.

James Lyons an expert on forestry and environmental issues, has been a Staff Assistant to the House Agriculture Committee since 1987, and has served during that period as an agricultural advisor to Congressman Leon Panetta. He was previously the Staff Director of the House Subcommittee on Forests, Family Farms and Energy, and was Director of Resource Policy for the Society of American Foresters from 1982 to 1986. He holds a B.A. from Rutgers and an M.A. in Forestry from Yale.

Bob Nash has been a senior adviser to Bill Clinton since 1983. He is currently the President of the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, and was Deputy Director of the Clinton/Gore Transition's personnel office. From 1983-89 he was Senior Assistant to the Governor for Economic Development. He had previously served as Vice President of the Winthrop Rockefeller foundation, Director of Community and Regional Affairs for the State of Arkansas, and as an Administrative Officer in the National Training and Development Service. He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas (B.A.) and Howard University (M.A., urban studies).

Judith Heumann is one of the country's leading experts on independent living, rehabilitation, and special education for disabled people. She currently serves as Vice President for the World Institute on Disability in Oakland, CA, a public policy center of which she was a co-founder and Director of the Research and Training Center on Public Policy in Independent Living. She was also a co-founder of Disability International, USA, of which she is currently President. Heumann has previously served as Special Assistant to the Executive Director of the California Department of Rehabilitation and as Senior Deputy Director of the Center for Independent Living. She has previous Washington experience as Legislative Assistant to the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare during the mid 1970s. In 1970, she successfully sued to become the first person in a wheelchair to be hired as a teacher in the New York City Public Schools. She is a graduate of Long Island University and holds a Masters in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley.

March 9, 1993
page two

Dr. Augusta Kappner, an educator with more than 20 years experience in university administration, is currently the Acting President of City College of the City University of New York. Other positions that she has held within the CUNY system have been President of the Borough of Manhattan Community College and University Dean for Academic Affairs. From 1978 to 1984, she was a Professor and Dean for Continuing Education at LaGuardia Community College, where she was previously Chairperson of the Human Services Division. She has also taught and been an administrator at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Columbia University, New York City Community College, and Hunter College.

Dr. Thomas Payzant has gained national recognition for his reform efforts as Superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District, a position he has held since 1982, and during his tenure as Superintendent of the Oklahoma City Public Schools from 1979 to 1982. He has also been Superintendent of Schools in Eugene, OR and Springfield Township, PA, and has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Oregon. He chairs a number of education-related boards and commissions, and has written numerous articles on interagency collaboration and educational reform. Dr. Payzant received his B.A. from Williams College and his Ed.D., C.A.S., and A.M.T. degrees from Harvard University.

Dr. Marshall Smith is Professor of Education and Dean of the School of Education at Stanford University. Previously, he was an associate professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education and a professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he has also the director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. Smith has held several policy positions in the federal government, including Chief of Staff to the first Secretary of Education. He serves as an advisor to the National Education Goals Panel and was a member of the National Council of Education Standards and Testing. He is a member of the National Academy of Education.

Nicolas Retsinas is the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation and a Special Assistant to the Governor of Rhode Island, whom he has previously served as Director of Policy and Secretary to the Cabinet. From 1982-1985 he was Director of Technical Assistance and then Director of Development for the Community Development Training Institute.

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