Appointments and Resignations
Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency: Who Is Ronnie Hawkins Jr.?
The Department of Defense agency that provides global information and technology assistance through online services for the military has a leader who stepped into controversy almost from the very beginning of his tenure. Lieutenant General Ronni... read more
Obama Nominee for Ambassador to Iraq Withdraws over Sexual Emails: Who is Brett McGurk?
Brett McGurk has withdrawn from becoming the next U.S. ambassador to Iraq following the disclosure of racy emails he wrote in 2008, while he was married, to a reporter he later married.
Half a dozen Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relation... read more
Acting Director of the National Weather Service: Who Is Laura Furgione?
The nation’s top weather forecaster is a twenty-year veteran of the National Weather Service (NWS) who has forecast the weather in such diverse climes as Alaska, Hawai’i and North Carolina. Laura K. Furgione is the National Oceanic and Atmospher... read more
Acting Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA): Who Is Kaigham Gabriel?
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the military’s secretive, high-tech operation responsible for inventing the forerunner to the Internet (ARPAnet) and the technology behind the stealth fighter, unmanned drone aircraft, globa... read more
Chief of Naval Operations: Who Is Jonathan Greenert?
The nation’s top Navy officer is a bubblehead and proud of it. In Navy slang, a bubblehead is a sailor who has served his career mainly in the submarine fleet, and that is surely true of Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert, who became the 30th Chief of... read more
Commerce Secretary Causes Two Car Accidents: Who is John Bryson?
Police in San Gabriel, California, announced that Secretary of Commerce John Bryson was charged on Saturday after being involved in two hit-and-run accidents. According to the official press release, Bryson, driving a Lexus, first rear-ended a c... read more
Chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Who Is Allison Macfarlane?
In the wake of the May 21st resignation of Gregory Jaczko as chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), President Obama moved quickly to nominate a replacement on May 24, tapping geologist and nuclear waste disposal expert Allison M. Macf... read more
Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army: Who Is Raymond Odierno?
General Raymond T. Odierno has served as the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army since September 7, 2011. As such, he has been a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a council of senior uniformed officers in the Defense Department who advise the Sec... read more
Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force: Who Is Norton Schwartz?
The chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, Norton A. “Norty” Schwartz, is both the first Jewish-American to run that branch and the first who is not a former fighter or bomber pilot. Schwartz was nominated by President George W. Bush shortly afte... read more
Ambassador from Qatar: Who Is Mohammed Abdullah Mutib Al Rumaihi?
The new ambassador to the United States from the Persian Gulf oil emirate of Qatar is a former career military officer turned diplomat since 2001. Born in 1956, Mohammed Bin Abdullah Bin Mutib Al Rumaihi graduated from the St. Cyr Military Acade... read more
Ambassador to Bulgaria: Who is Marcie Ries?
A senior Foreign Service officer with 31 years of experience in Europe, the Caribbean and the Middle East, Marcie Berman Ries was nominated by President Barack Obama in May 2012 to serve as ambassador to Bulgaria. Over the course of her diplomat... read more
Ambassador from Liberia: Who Is Jeremiah Sulunteh?
The West African nation of Liberia, which has had close relations with the U.S. since its founding by American former slaves in 1847, has sent a new ambassador to Washington who has played a key role in the nation’s reconstruction after back-to-... read more
Ambassador from Kosovo: Who Is Akan Ismaili?
The ambassador from the new Balkan nation of Kosovo is, at 38 years of age, a leading representative of the generation of Kosovars who came of age during the autonomy and independence struggles against Serbia during the late 1980s and early 1990s.... read more
Ambassador to Oman: Who is Greta Holtz?
Career diplomat Greta C. Holtz was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 24, 2012 to be the next U.S. ambassador to Oman.
Holtz received a Bachelor of Science in political science from Vanderbilt University (1982) and a Master of Arts i... read more
National Weather Bureau Chief Resigns…Under a Cloud
The head of the National Weather Service (NWS) has stepped down following revelations that his agency spent years redirecting funds without approval from Congress.
Jack Hayes ran the NWS for six years before his abrupt retirement last week. Hi... read more
Labor Relations Board Member Resigns, Under Investigation
After only four months on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Republican appointee Terence F. Flynn resigned over the weekend after an internal investigation found he had leaked documents to GOP colleagues. The NLRB is supposed to ensure th... read more