THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release October 22, 1993
PRESIDENT NAMES FERRARO TO UNHRC
President Clinton announced his intention today to appoint former Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro to be the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), with the rank of Ambassador.
"In addition to earning her place in our own country's political history, Geraldine Ferraro has been a highly effective voice for the human rights of women around the world," said the President. "As alternate head of the U.S. delegation to this year's session of the UNHRC, she spoke eloquently on behalf of women in the former Yugoslavia, and brought all of the parties involved to a consensus position. I look forward to her continuing her strong and much-needed advocacy in this new position."
Geraldine Ferraro was first elected to Congress from New York's 9th Congressional District in 1978, and served three terms in the House before leaving after her 1984 Vice Presidential campaign, in which she was the first woman ever to be nominated for national office by a major party. Since leaving public office, she has remained an active participant in the nation's foreign policy debate, serving as a board member of the National Democratic Institute of Foreign Affairs and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Before entering public life, Ferraro taught elementary school in the New York City Public Schools, while putting herself through Fordham Law School at night. After spending thirteen years at home raising her three children, she joined the Queens District Attorney's Office.
She is currently managing partner in the New York office of Keck, Mahin & Cate, a national law firm, and serves on the boards of the Fordham Law School Board of Visitors, the New York Easter Seal Society the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the National Breast Cancer Research Fund, and the Pension Rights Center. Ferraro and her husband, John Zaccaro, have three children. She is 58 years old.
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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release October 22, 1993
DISTRICT JUDGES NAMED
President Clinton announced the nomination today of his choices for four U.S. District Court vacancies: Donetta Ambrose and Gary Lancaster, both for the Western District of Pennsylvania; Wilkie D. Ferguson for the Southern District of Florida; and Charles A. Shaw for the Eastern District of Missouri.
"I am committed to giving the American people a federal judiciary marked by excellence, by diversity and by a concern for the personal security and civil rights of all Americans," said the President. "With these nominations today, we are giving just that to the people of Pennsylvania, Florida, and Missouri."
Donetta Ambrose has been a judge in the Court of Common Pleas in Westmoreland County since 1981. Along with seven years of private practice, Ambrose has served as Pennsylvania's Assistant Attorney General and as the Assistant District Attorney of Westmoreland County. A native of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, where she still resides, Ambrose holds both a B.A. and J.D. from Duquesne University. She and her husband, Raymond, have one child. She is 47 years old.
Gary Lancaster is a U.S. Magistrate in Pittsburgh, a position he has held since 1987. Lancaster previously was in private practice, and served as a regional counsel for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and as an Assistant District Attorney for Allegheney County. He holds a B.S. from Slippery Rock State College and a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. He is 44 years old.
Wilkie D. Ferguson has been a state appellate judge for 12 years. Prior to that, he served as a staff attorney to the Dade County School Board and the Miami Legal Services Program. He was also a state trial judge before being elevated to the appellate bench in 1981. Ferguson, 55, holds a B.S. from Florida A&M University, and a J.D. from the Howard University School of Law. A lifelong resident of Miami, he lives with his wife, Betty Jean Tucker, and their two children.
Charles A. Shaw has been a state circuit court judge in St. Louis since 1987. Before earning both an M.B.A. and a J.D., Shaw taught elementary school. Along with several years in private practice, he has been an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board and an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Missouri. He holds a B.A. from Harris Stowe State College, an M.B.A. from the University of Missouri, and a J.D. from the Catholic University of America. Shaw and his wife, Kathleen Marie Ingram, have one child. He is 48 years old.
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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release October 22, 1993
PRESIDENT NAMES BLANCATO TO CONFERENCE ON AGING
President Clinton announced that he has appointed Robert B. Blancato to be Executive Director of the White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA). The WHCOA, located at the Department of Health and Human Services, serves as a focal point for the development of national policy on aging issues.
"Robert Blancato is a leading expert in aging policy who has been recognized for his work on numerous occasions," said the President. "I look forward to his work at the White House Conference on Aging."
Robert Blancato is currently the Executive Director of Italian-American Center at the Catholic University of America, the first national center built for the appreciation and advancement of Italian-American heritage and culture. He is also the Director of Public Policy and Institutes for the National Italian-American Foundation.
From 1977-89, Blancato was the Staff Director of the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Aging's Subcommittee on Human Services. He remained a senior advisor to the subcommittee until it went out of existence earlier this year. In addition, he is an adjunct faculty member at the New School for Social Research's Gerontological Services Administration and the Post Master Certificate Program in Aging at Hunter College. In 1982, he went to Vienna as a member of the U.S. delegation to the World Assembly on Aging.
Blancato holds a B.A. from Georgetown University and an M.P.A. from American University. He is 42 years old.
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