Appointment of Three Members of the Commission on Civil Rights

The President today appointed the following individuals to be members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights:

Morris B. Abram is currently a partner with the law offices of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison in New York, N.Y. Between 1968 and 1970 Mr. Abram served as president of Brandeis University. Mr. Abram has long devoted himself to the cause of securing civil rights for all Americans. In 1946 he was a member of the American prosecutorial staff at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. Between 1962 and 1964, he served as a member of the U.N. Subcommittee on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities by appointment of President Kennedy. Between 1963 and 1968 he served as president of the American Jewish Committee. Between 1965 and 1968 he served as U.S. Representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Between 1970 and 1979, Mr. Abram served as chairman of the United Negro College Fund. Since 1961 he has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Mr. Abram earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia (B.A., summa cum laude, 1938), and his doctor of jurisprudence from the University of Chicago (J.D., 1940). Thereafter, he attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar (B.A., 1948; M.A., 1953). Mr. Abram was born June 19, 1918, in Fitzgerald, Ga., and resides in New York, N.Y. He is a Democrat and will serve for a term of 6 years.

Esther Gonzalez-Arroyo Buckley is currently a secondary school teacher at Cigarroa High School, Laredo, Tex., teaching mathematics and science. She has a Texas State teaching certificate in mathematics, biology, and Spanish. She serves as chairperson of the science department, Accreditation Committee, and the Superintendent's Advisory Committee of the Laredo Independent School District, a predominantly Hispanic district. She previously served by appointment of the Governor of Texas on the Teacher Professional Practices and Ethics Commission. Between 1974 and 1977 she served as a teacher with the Migrant Compensatory Education Project and later the Migrant Youth Corps. She taught English as a second language for adults at Laredo Junior College between 1972 and 1976. She is the chairman of the Webb County (Texas) Republican Party. Ms. Buckley earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas (B.A., magna cum laude, 1967) and her graduate degree in education and Spanish from Laredo State (M.S., with honors, 1975). She is a charter member of the Laredo chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, an honors fraternity in education, and Phi Delta Kappa, a professional fraternity in education. Ms. Buckley was born March 29, 1948, in Laredo, Tex., and resides there. She is a Republican and will serve for a term of 3 years.

John H. Bunzel, formerly president of San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif., is currently serving as a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. A longtime supporter of civil rights, Mr. Bunzel was honored in 1974 by the Board of Supervisors of the city and county of San Francisco when he was awarded a Certificate of Merit for "unswerving devotion to the highest ideals of brotherhood and service to mankind and dedicated efforts looking to the elimination of racial and religious bigotry and discrimination." Mr. Bunzel earned his undergraduate degree from Princeton University (A.B., magna cum laude, 1948), his master's degree from Columbia University (M.A., 1949), and his doctorate in political science from the University of California at Berkeley (Ph.D., 1954). Mr. Bunzel was born April 15, 1924, in New York, N.Y., and resides in Belmont, Calif. He is a Democrat and will serve for a term of 3 years.

The President previously announced the appointment of:

Clarence M. Pendleton, Jr., to be a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and designated Mr. Pendleton to be Chairman. Mr. Pendleton served as a member and Chairman of the previous Civil Rights Commission between March 19, 1982, and November 30, 1983. Since 1975 Mr. Pendleton has been president of the Urban League of San Diego, Calif. He is also president of the San Diego County Local Development Corp., a nonprofit subsidiary of San Diego Urban League, Inc., and president of Building for Equal Opportunity (B.F.E.O.), a profitmaking subsidiary of the San Diego Urban League. He was director of the Model Cities Department, city of San Diego, in 1972-1975; director, Urban Affairs, National Recreation and Park Association, in 1970-1972; recreation coordinator, Model Cities Agency, city of Baltimore, Md., in 1968-1970; and instructor in physical education and recreation, Howard University, Washington, D.C., in 1958-1968. He has served on the Community Education Advisory Council, U.S. Office of Education, since 1979 and the Governor's Task Force on Affordable Housing, State of California, since 1978. Mr. Pendleton graduated from Howard University (B.S., 1954; M.A., 1962). Mr. Pendleton was born November 10, 1930, in Louisville, Ky., and resides in La Jolla, Calif. He is a Republican and will serve for a term of 6 years.

The President also previously announced the appointment of:

Linda Chavez, to be Staff Director for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Ms. Chavez served as Staff Director of the previous Civil Rights Commission between August 16, 1983, and November 30, 1983. Ms. Chavez served as assistant to the president of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, Washington, D.C., from 1982 to 1983. She served as an editor for the American Federation of Teachers from 1977 to 1982. As such she was responsible for editing several publications, including American Teacher, American Educator, and Healthwire. During 1981, she acted as a consultant to ACTION in Washington, D.C. Previously she served as a member of the professional staff of the Civil and Constitutional Rights Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. Ms. Chavez graduated from the University of Colorado (B.A., 1970). She has done graduate work and taught at the University of California at Los Angeles. Ms. Chavez was born June 17, 1947, in Albuquerque, N. Mex. She is a Democrat.