THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release September 23, 1993

PRESIDENT NAMES LISSAKERS TO IMF POST

President Clinton announced today that he intends to nominate Columbia University professor Karin Lissakers to be the U.S. Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund. The executive director represents the United States on the 24-member board of executive directors, which sets policy for the IMF.

"As the largest shareholder in the IMF, the United States has a special responsibility for its operations," said the President. "Karen Lissakers has proven that she is up to the task of representing our interests. I am confident that she will shine in this position."

Lissakers, 49, currently is Director of the International Business and Banking program at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. She has been teaching at Columbia since 1985. During the Carter Administration, Lissakers was deputy director of the Policy Planning Staff at the State Department. Before that, she was staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's subcommittee on foreign policy.

Born in Sweeden, Lissakers graduated from Ohio State University in 1967 and earned a Masters in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in 1969. She is married to the writer Martin Mayer. They have two children.

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