Department of Commerce Nomination of Elsa A. Porter To Be an Assistant Secretary.

The President today announced that he will nominate Elsa A. Porter to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Administration. Ms. Porter is presently Chief of the Analysis and Development Division in the Bureau of Personnel Management Evaluation of the U.S. Civil Service Commission in Washington.

Ms. Porter was born on December 19, 1928, in Amoy, China. She received a B.A. degree from Birmingham-Southern College in 1949, an M.A. from the University of Alabama in 1959, and an M.P.A. from Harvard University in 1971.

From 1960 to 1962, she was a research assistant in the Foreign Language Development Program of the U.S. Office of Education. In 1962 and 1963, she was a writer in the Office of Public Information, Office of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Ms. Porter served as an information specialist in the Public Affairs Branch of the Agency for International Development in 1963 and 1964, and was a staff assistant in the Office of Public Affairs, Office of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare from 1964 to 1967.

From 1967 to 1969, she was Director of the Special Projects Staff in the Office of Personnel and Training, Office of the Secretary of HEW. In 1969 and 1970, she served as Chief of the Career Development Branch in that office.

In 1971 Ms. Porter was Chief of the Manpower Planning and Staffing Branch in the Office of Personnel and Training (HEW). She was Assistant Administrator for Organization Development, Social and Rehabilitation Service at HEW from 1971 to 1973.

Ms. Porter was Director of the Clearinghouse on Productivity and Organizational Effectiveness, U.S. Civil Service Commission, from 1973 until 1976, when she became Chief of the Analysis and Development Division, Bureau of Personnel Management Evaluation, at the Civil Service Commission.

She is a member of the American Society of Public Administration, the International Personnel Management Association, Women's Equity Action League, and Common Cause. She has had several articles published.

Ms. Porter is married. She and her husband have six children and reside in Alexandria, Va.