Chief of Protocol for the White House Nomination of Abelardo Lopez Valdez for the Rank of Ambassador.

The President today announced that he intends to nominate Abelardo Lopez Valdez for the rank of Ambassador while serving as Chief of Protocol for the White House.

Valdez has served as Assistant Administrator of the Agency for International Development (AID) for Latin America and the Caribbean since 1977.

He was born August 31, 1942, in Floresville, Tex. He received a B.S. in civil engineering from Texas A&M College in 1965, a J.D. from Baylor Law School in 1970, and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School in 1974.

Valdez served in the U.S. Army as a lieutenant from 1965 to 1967, and served as military aide to President Johnson for that period. tie was an attorney for the Federal Power Commission from 1970 to 1971 and for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation from 1971 to 1973. Valdez served as General Counsel of the Inter-American Foundation from 1973 to 1975. He was a partner in the Washington law firm of Purcell, Hansen & Valdez from 1975 to 1977. In 1977 he also was a member of the faculty of the John F. Kennedy Institute of Politics at Harvard University, where he taught a seminar on critical issues in U.S.-Latin American relations.