Confirmations: Wood (USCD), Nealon (Honduras), Shear (DOD/APSA)

— Domani Spero
[twitter-follow screen_name=’Diplopundit’ ]

 

On July 15, the U.S. Senate confirmed the following executive nominations for the State Department:

 

On July 17, the U.S. Senate also confirmed the nomination of Ambassador David Shear as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs in the Department of Defense. Ambassador Shear was most recently the chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam.

* * *

Today at the SFRC: Crocker (IO), Lawson (ICAO), Wood (USCD)

— Domani Spero

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding its confirmation hearings for President Obama’s nominees for  the International Organization AffairsInternational Civil Aviation Organization and the Conference on Disarmament .

Presiding: Senator Markey
Date: Tuesday, February 04, 2014
Time: 03:00 PM
Location: Senate Dirksen 419

Webcast:

This hearing is scheduled to be live webcast. Please return to this page to view the hearing live or see the nominees’ prepared statements.

Nominees:

  • Ms. Bathsheba Nell Crocker
    of the District of Columbia, to be an Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs

Bathsheba N. Crocker is the Principal Deputy Director in the Office of Policy Planning at the Department of State (DOS), a position she has held since 2011.  Previously at DOS, she served as Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of State from 2009 to 2011.  From 2008 to 2009, Ms. Crocker was a Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer for International Affairs at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  She was the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support at the UN Peacebuilding Support Office from 2007 to 2008.  From 2005 to 2007, Ms. Crocker was the Deputy Chief of Staff to the UN Special Envoy at the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery.  Ms. Crocker worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project as a Fellow and Co-Director from 2003 to 2005 and as an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations from 2002 to 2003.  Ms. Crocker was an Attorney-Adviser for the Office of the Legal Advisor at DOS from 2001 to 2002 and from 1997 to 1999.  From 2000 to 2001, she was Deputy U.S. Special Representative for Southeast Europe Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, Italy.  From 1999 to 2000, Ms. Crocker was Executive Assistant to the Deputy National Security Advisor for the National Security Council at the White House.  She has served as an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University, and American University.  Ms. Crocker received a B.A. from Stanford University, an M.A. from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. (Via)

  • Mr. Michael Anderson Lawson 
    of California, for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as Representative of the United States of America on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization

Michael Anderson Lawson is the immediate past President of the Los Angeles World Airports’ Board of Airport Commissioners.  He has been a member of the Board of Airport Commissioners since 2005 and held the position of President of the Commission since 2011.  From 1980 to 2011, he practiced law at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP where he served as partner since 1995.  From 1978 to 1980, he was a staff attorney at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.  Mr. Lawson is a member of the Board of Trustees of Morehouse College, Loyola Marymount University, The Advancement Project, the Music Center at the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County, the California State Teachers Retirement System Board, and the Community Redevelopment Agency Oversight Board for the City of Los Angeles.  Mr. Lawson received a B.A. from Loyola University in Los Angeles and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. (Via)

 * * *

Enhanced by Zemanta

Officially In: Robert A. Wood — from USEU to the Conference on Disarmament

— Domani Spero

On December 12, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Robert A. Wood, for Rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as United States Representative to the Conference on Disarmament. The WH released the following brief bio:

Robert A. Wood, a Career Member of the Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, is Chargé d’Affaires at

English: Robert A. Wood is the State Departmen...

Robert A. Wood was  a State Department’s Deputy Spokesman and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

the U.S. Mission to the European Union.  From 2010 to 2013, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna, Austria.  From 2008 to 2010, Mr. Wood was the State Department’s Deputy Spokesman and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs.  From 2004 to 2008, he served as the Press Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, Germany.  Prior to his assignment to Berlin, he was Deputy Spokesman at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York from 2001 to 2004.  Mr. Wood has been a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State and the former U.S. Information Agency since 1988.  In Washington, Mr. Wood has worked as a public affairs advisor for the Bureau of African Affairs, as a Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, and in several positions dealing with the Balkans.  Mr. Wood has also served in public affairs positions in Mexico City, Mexico; Lagos, Nigeria; Islamabad, Pakistan; and Pretoria, South Africa.

He received a B.A. from The City University of New York.

This is Mr. Wood’s first ambassadorial appointment. If confirmed, he would succeed Laura E. Kennedy who was United States Representative to the Conference on Disarmament at USUN in Geneva from March 2010-May 2013.

* * *

Related item:

December 12, 2013|  President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts