Appointment of Catalina Villalpando as Special Assistant to the President for Public Liaison

The President today announced the appointment of Catalina Villalpando to be Special Assistant to the President in the Office of Public Liaison with responsibility for relations with the Hispanic community.

Ms. Villalpando recently served as the voter groups coordinator for the Texas Republican Party. Previously she was a consultant to the ACTION agency and served in the Office of Presidential Personnel at the White House. Ms. Villalpando was an active volunteer in the Reagan-Bush campaign in 1980. Before these activities, she operated her own consulting business in Texas and was employed by the Minority Business Development Agency in the Department of Commerce in the late 1970's.

Ms. Villalpando is a board member of the Southwestern Voter Registration Education Project, Texas Federation of Republican Women, LULAC, and the GI Forum. She also serves on the Texas Advisory Committee for the United States Commission on Civil Rights and the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization in the Department of Transportation.

Ms. Villalpando attended Southwest Texas State University. She was born April 1, 1940, in San Marcos, Tex.