Nomination of Laurence William Lane, Jr., To Be United States Ambassador to Australia and Nauru

The President today announced his intention to nominate Laurence William Lane, Jr., of California, as Ambassador to Australia and to serve concurrently as Ambassador to the Republic of Nauru. He would succeed Robert Dean Nesen.

From 1946 to the present, Mr. Lane has been with the Lane Publishing Co. in Menlo Park, CA, serving in various positions such as marketing representative, salesman, editorial assistant, sales manager, vice president, president, and chairman of the board. He is also publisher of Sunset magazine. From 1965 to the present, he was a member of the advisory board for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company of Northern California; 1967 to the present, a member of the board of directors of the California Water Service Co. in San Jose; 1971 to the present, a member of the board of directors of Crown Zellerbach Corp. in San Francisco; and 1980 to the present, a member of the board of directors of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in San Francisco. Mr. Lane's government service has included chairmanship of the Water Panel, Governor's "California Changing Environment" in 1969; 1972, Chairman, President's Commission for National Parks Centennial; 1973-1974, member, President's National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere; 1974-1985, member, Secretary of the Interior Advisory Council for National Parks; 1975, Ambassador/Commissioner General of the U.S. Exhibition at the International Ocean Exposition in Okinawa, Japan; 1976-1981, chairman of the Pacific Area Travel Association, USTS/Commerce; and 1981-1983, a member of the National Productivity Advisory Committee. He was also mayor and councilman, town council of Portola Valley, CA.

Mr. Lane graduated from Stanford University (B.A., 1942). He served in the United States Navy from 1942-1946. His foreign language is Spanish. He is married to the former Donna Jean Gimbel and has three children. He was born November 7, 1919, in Des Moines, IA, and currently resides in Portola Valley, CA.