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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release September 13, 1996
                    PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES FOUR TO 
                     THE ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMISSION 

The President today announced his intention to appoint George Newton of Round Hill, Virginia, as Member and Chair, and Edward Lee Gorsuch II of Anchorage, Alaska, James A. Palmer of Eagle River, Alaska, and John Eyres Hobbie of Falmouth, Massachusetts, as Members of the Arctic Research Commission.

George B. Newton is the Director of the Radar Analysis Center at Systems Planning Corporation of Arlington, Virginia. He has served as a Member of the Arctic Research Commission since March 1992. Mr. Newton had a long and distinguished career in the U.S. Navy, where he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, and twice the Legion of Merit. In 1990, he was appointed to former Senator Al Gore's Ad Hoc Sea Ice Data Committee. He has a B.S in Electrical Engineering from Brown University, and an M.S. in Management and Industrial Engineering from Renssalear Polytechnic Institute.

Mr. Gorsuch is the Chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), where he has served since 1994. From 1988 to 1994, Mr. Gorsuch was Dean of the School of Public Affairs at the University of Alaska Anchorage where he oversaw the University of Alaska's Environment and Natural Resources Institute, the Justice Center, the Institute of Social and Economic Research, and the Center for Economic Education. He has a B.A. in Economics and an M.S. in Community Development from the University of Missouri.

John Eyres Hobbie is the Co-Director and Senior Research Scientist at the Ecosystems Center of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. For over twenty years, Dr. Hobbie has directed an ecological study on the North Slope of Alaska. He has a B.A. from Dartmouth College, an M.A. from the University of California, and a Ph.D. from Indiana University.

James A. Palmer is the Director of External Affairs for British Petroleum (BP) Exploration in Anchorage, Alaska, a position he has held since 1984. His public service includes serving as a Professional Assistant for the Joint Committee on Oil and Gas, Alaska State Legislature, and as the Staff Director for the Resources Committee of the Alaska State Senate. He has a B.A. in Sociology from St. John Fisher College and an M.S. in Accounting from Georgetown University.

The Arctic Research Commission develops and recommends an integrated national Arctic research policy. The Commission facilitates cooperation between federal, state and local governments with respect to Arctic research, reviews federal Arctic research programs, and recommends improvements.

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