Agency for International Development - Nomination of Robert H. Nooter To Be Deputy Administrator and lean P. Lewis and Abelardo L. Valdez To Be Assistant Administrators

The President today announced that he will nominate Robert H. Nooter to be Deputy Administrator of the Agency for International Development (AID), and Jean P. Lewis and Abelardo L. Valdez to be Assistant Administrators of AID.

Nooter has been Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for the Near East at AID since 1974. He was born July 14, 1926, in St. Louis, Mo., and received a B.S. in industrial engineering from the University of California in 1945. Between 1947 and 1962, he worked for the Nooter Corp., in St. Louis, serving as vice president for operations from 1959 to 1962.

From 1962 to 1965, Nooter was Director of USAID in Uruguay, and from 1965 to 1967 he was Director/Attaché for USAID in Liberia. He served as Deputy Assistant Administrator of AID's Bureau for Asia from 1968 to 1970; Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Vietnam from 1970 to 1972; and Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Supporting Assistance from 1972 to 1974.

Lewis, whose area of responsibility will be legislative affairs, is currently Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Office of Legislative Affairs at AID. She was born May 22, 1918, in Montgomery, Ala., and attended American University. In 1957 and 1958, she was an administrative assistant for the Alabama League of Municipalities.

From 1958 to 1961, Lewis was a staff assistant for then-Senator John F. Kennedy's Presidential campaign. From 1961 to 1967, she was a Special Assistant in the Executive Office of the President. From 1967 to 1975, Lewis was Congressional Liaison Officer in the Office of Legislative Affairs at AID. Since 1975, she has been Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Office of Legislative Affairs at AID.

Valdez, whose area of responsibility will be Latin America, is a partner in the law firm of Purcell, Hansen & Valdez in Washington. 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 the President at the White House for that period. He 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 until 1975, when he became a partner in Purcell, Hansen & Valdez.

Valdez is chairman of the American Society of International Law Project on Legal Services to the Poor and Public Interest Law in Latin America and of the Committee on Agricultural Law of the Inter-American Bar Association. He has had several articles published on legal topics and Latin America.