THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

          PRESIDENT NAMES MARSHA P. MARTIN AND DOYLE L. COOK 
                TO THE FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION BOARD

President Clinton today announced his intention to nominate Marsha P. Martin to a six-year term as a Member of the Farm Credit Administration Board. Upon confirmation she will be designated Chairman succeeding Billy Ross Brown. Also today, the President announced his intention to nominate Doyle L. Cook to serve as a Member of the Farm Credit Administration Board. Mr. Cook's term will expire on May 21, 1998.

Ms. Martin has more than 30 years experience working in agriculture and agricultural finance. She currently is a Senior Vice President of the Farm Credit Bank of Texas where she serves on the six-member management team that administers and supervises agricultural credit for farmers in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas.

Prior to joining the Farm Credit System in 1970, Ms. Martin was employed for eight years by Texas A&M University's Department of Agricultural Communications, where she held a joint appointment with the Agricultural Extension Service and the Agricultural Experiment Station.

During her career with the Farm Credit Bank of Texas, she has gained broad management experience, providing leadership for Human Resources Management, Public and Legislative Affairs, Marketing, Corporate Relations, Legal, Operations and Supervision, and Management Information departments. In 1979 she earned the distinction of being the first woman appointed to a senior officer position in the Farm Credit System.

Ms. Martin has held leadership positions with various agricultural councils and advisory committees in the State of Texas. She currently serves on the Texas Agricultural Loan Mediation Program Advisory Board, the Texas Department of Commerce's Credit Advisory Committee, the Board of Directors of Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership and the Texas Agricultural Cooperative Council. She also is a member of the Texas Ag Council, a Steering Committee Member of the Texas Ag Forum, and is President of the Texas District Farm Credit Council.

From 1982 to 1992 she served as Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Texas Rural Communities, and from 1985 to 1987 served as a member of Texas Department of Agriculture's Texas Economic Agricultural Data Task Force. In 1985 she was appointed by state representative Bill Sarpalius to a two-year term as a member of the Interim Study Committee of the Texas State Senate Agriculture Subcommittee.

Ms. Martin earned a B.A. degree from Texas Woman's University and a M.S. degree from Texas A&M University. She has two grown daughters and lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband Britt Martin.

Mr. Cook has acquired close to 23 years experience in agricultural finance. In his most recent appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Farm Credit Bank of Spokane, he managed a total loan volume of $2.7 billion and supervised lending activity in five States. Prior to joining senior management in the Farm Credit System in 1975, Mr. Cook spent approximately 13 years as an executive with the Ralston Purina Company.

Mr. Cook has served in leadership positions with a number of agricultural business and financing entities, including the Farmer Mac Board of Directors, the Farm Credit System Presidents Planning Committee, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Lender Advisory Committee. He obtained both a B.S. degree in Agricultural Business and a M.S. degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Arkansas. He currently resides with his wife, Peggy, in Spokane, Washington.

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