THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release March 29, 1993

PRESIDENT NAMES TWO ASSISTANT SECRETARIES OF EDUCATION

(Washington, DC) President Clinton named two national education leaders to key positions at the Department of Education today, expressing his intention to nominate Colorado education official David Longanecker to be Assistant Secretary for Post Secondary Education, and education innovator Sharon Porter Robinson to be Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement.

"I have pledged to make the Department of Education a center for innovate policymaking," said the President. "David Longanecker and Sharon Porter Robinson will join with Secretary Riley and the rest of his team to bring the leadership that will make that happen."

Longanecker has been Executive Director of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education since 1988. In that capacity, he is also Executive Director of the state Department of Higher Education, and as a member of Governor Roy Romer's Cabinet. He previously served for seven years at the Minnesota Higher Education Council, the last four as Executive Director. He previously worked as an education specialist in the Congressional Budget Office, and at the George Washington University. Longanecker holds a B.A. from Washington State University, an M.A. in student personnel work from the George Washington University, and Ed.D. in Administration and Policy Analysis in Higher Education from Stanford University.

Robinson, who began her career as a high school teacher in the Fayette County, Kentucky public schools, is currently the Director of the National Center for Innovation at the National Education Association. From 1980-89, she served as the NEA's Director of Instruction and Professional Development. She was previously Associate Director of the Jefferson County, Kentucky Education Consortium, a Graduate Assistant at the Kentucky Desegregation Training Institute and a classroom teacher in the Fayette County schools and at Bittburg Air Force Base in Germany. She holds B.S., M.A., and Ed.D. degrees from the University of Kentucky.

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