Press Release - President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

•      Susan Coppedge – Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, with rank of Ambassador at Large, Department of State

•      Jessie Roberson – Commissioner, Nuclear Regulatory Commission

•      Marc Jonathan Sievers – Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, Department of State

•      Kenneth Damian Ward – Rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as United States Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Department of State

President Obama also announced his intent to appoint the following individual to a key Administration post:

•      Regina T. Jefferson – Member, Advisory Committee to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

President Obama said, "These individuals have demonstrated knowledge and dedication throughout their careers. I am grateful they have chosen to take on these important roles, and I look forward to working with them."

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Susan Coppedge, Nominee for Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, with the rank of Ambassador at Large, Department of State

Susan Coppedge is an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, a position she has held since 2001. Prior to that, she served as Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia from 1999 to 2001. Ms. Coppedge was a Trial Attorney for the Environmental Enforcement Section at the Department of Justice from 1995 to 1999 and a Law Clerk for Judge William C. O'Kelley of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia from 1993 to 1994. She has received a number of awards for her work, including United States Attorney's Office Awards in 2011 and 2013, a Director's Award from the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, a John Marshall Award from the Department of Justice, and a Fulbright Ian Axford Fellowship in Public Policy. Ms. Coppedge received a B.A. from Duke University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.

Jessie Roberson, Nominee for Commissioner, Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Jessie Roberson is Vice Chairman and Member of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), positions she has held since 2010. In 2009, Ms. Roberson was the Senior Vice President for Environmental Affairs at Safe Harbor Energy. Prior to that, she was an environmental consultant for Innovative Solutions from 2007 to 2009. From 2006 to 2007, Ms. Roberson served as the President of the Nuclear Services Division at CH2M Hill. Before that role, she served as the Director of Nuclear Regulatory Programs at Exelon Corporation from 2004 to 2006. From 2001 to 2004, Ms. Roberson served as Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management at the Department of Energy. She previously served as a member of the DNFSB from 2000 to 2001. Ms. Roberson served at the Department of Energy as a Site Manager for the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site from 1994 to 2000 and as a Waste Management and Environmental Deputy Assistant Manager for the Savannah River Plant from 1989 to 1994. Ms. Roberson worked for Georgia Power Company as a Senior Systems Electrical Engineer from 1987 to 1989. Earlier in her career, she was a Nuclear Operations Manager at the Savannah River Plant for E.I. DuPont from 1981 to 1987. Ms. Roberson received a B.S. from the University of Tennessee.

Marc Jonathan Sievers, Nominee for Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, Department of State

Marc Jonathan Sievers, a career member of the Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, currently serves as Visiting Diplomatic Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a position he has held since 2014. Prior to this, Mr. Sievers served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt from 2011 to 2014 and as Charge d'Affaires ad interim from January to August 2014. Mr. Sievers was Political Minister Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq from 2010 to 2011, Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel from 2006 to 2010, and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Algiers, Algeria from 2003 to 2006. Before that, Mr. Sievers served as the Deputy Director in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Office of Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon from 2001 to 2003 and held positions at posts in Egypt, Hong Kong, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Mr. Sievers received a B.A. from the University of Utah and an M.A. from Columbia University.

Kenneth Damian Ward, Nominee for the Rank of Ambassador during his tenure as United States Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Department of State

Kenneth Damian Ward, a Career Member of the Senior Executive Service, is Director of the Office of Chemical and Biological Weapons Affairs at the Department of State's Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance, a position he has held since 2011. From 2010 to 2014, he also was an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. Prior to this, Mr. Ward served as Chief of Staff in the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance from 2009 to 2010 and as a Professional Staff Member on the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism in 2008. From 2006 to 2008, he served as Deputy Head of the U.S. Delegation to the Biological Weapons Convention. In the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance, he served as the Deputy Negotiator for the Libya Weapons of Mass Destruction Elimination Operation from 2004 to 2007 and as Senior Advisor for Chemical-Biological Weapons from 2001 to 2003. Within the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Mr. Ward served as a Deputy Negotiator for the U.S. Delegation to Biological Weapons Convention Protocol Negotiations from 1995 to 2001, as a Legislative Fellow to the U.S. Senate in 1994, and as a Senior Advisor for Chemical-Biological Weapons from 1992 to 1993. Before that, he was an Independent Consultant with General Dynamics, an Associate Attorney with Caplin and Drysdale, and an Assistant for Strategic Forces Policy with the Department of Defense. Mr. Ward received a B.S. and J.D. from Georgetown University and an M.Phil. from Oxford University.

President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individual to a key Administration post:

Regina T. Jefferson, Appointee for Member, Advisory Committee to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

Regina T. Jefferson is a Professor of Law at The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, a position she has held since 2000. Ms. Jefferson has worked at the Columbus School of Law in a number of positions since 1992, including Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Associate Professor of Law, and Visiting Professor of Law. Between 1991 and 2014, she served as Visiting Professor of federal income taxation and tax policy at a number of law schools, including Georgetown University Law Center and Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. From 1987 to 1990, Ms. Jefferson served as an Attorney and Tax Law Specialist at the Employee Plan Division of the Internal Revenue Service. In 1986, Ms. Jefferson served as a Law Clerk for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and a Legal Intern for the Individual Tax Division at the Internal Revenue Service. Ms. Jefferson began her legal career as a Law Clerk for Leftwich, Moore, & Douglas in 1985. She was a Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefits and the National Academy of Social Insurance. Ms. Jefferson is a member of the Pension Rights Center Board of Directors, the BNA Pension & Benefits Reporter Advisory Board, and the Institute on Retirement Security Academic Advisory Board. She is also a former chair of the Employee Benefit Section of the Association of American Law Schools. Ms. Jefferson received a B.S. from Howard University, a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School, and an LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center.