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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release June 17, 1998

                PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES DIANE E. WATSON AS
           U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA

The President today announced his intent to nominate Diane E. Watson to be U.S. Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia.

Senator Diane E. Watson, of Los Angeles, California, has been representing her Los Angeles District since 1978 when she was the first African American woman to be elected to the California State Senate. Prior to serving as an elected official, Senator Watson led a distinguished career in the field of education. She has taught in the Los Angeles Unified School District, in Okinawa, Japan, and in Vassincourt, France. She went on to become one of the first school psychologists in the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Director of the Allied Health Occupations Project at the UCLA School of Education. In 1975, Senator Watson was elected to the Los Angeles Board of Education and led the fight to integrate the schools during her tenure. She has chaired the Health and Human Services Committee in the California Senate for the last sixteen years and has been instrumental in reforming health and welfare programs.

Senator Watson was born in Los Angeles, California. She earned a B.A. degree in Education from the University of California in 1956, an M.S. degree in School Psychology from California State University, Los Angeles in 1967, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Claremont Graduate School in 1987.

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