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The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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

  • W. James McNerney, Jr. – General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
  • Ann Marie Wilkins – General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
  • Russell F. Smith III – United States Commissioner, International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
  • Guy “Bud” Tribble – Member, President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee

President Obama said, “These fine public servants bring a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their important roles.  I look forward to working with them.”  

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

W. James McNerney, Jr., Appointee for General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
W. James McNerney, Jr. is Chairman and CEO of The Boeing Company, positions he has held since 2005.  Mr. McNerney was also President of The Boeing Company from 2005 to 2014.  He served as Chairman and CEO of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M) from 2000 to 2005.  From 1982 to 2000, Mr. McNerney held various senior executive positions at General Electric (GE).  He previously worked at McKinsey & Company, Inc. from 1978 to 1982 and Procter & Gamble from 1975 to 1978.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of Procter & Gamble and IBM.  Mr. McNerney also currently serves on and was former Chair of The Business Roundtable and The Business Council, and is a former Chair of the US-China Business Council.  He is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Field Museum in Chicago, a trustee of Northwestern University, and a member of the Northwestern Memorial Healthcare Board.  Mr. McNerney is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.  He has been Chairman of the President’s Export Council since 2010.  Mr. McNerney received a B.A. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.
 
Ann Marie Wilkins, Appointee for General Trustee, Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Ann Marie Wilkins is CEO of Wilkins Management, a position she has held since founding the company in 1986.  She is also Director and Senior Advisor at Marsalis Music, positions she has held since co-founding the company with Branford Marsalis in 2001.  Previously, Ms. Wilkins was an Attorney at Arnold & Porter LLP from 1983 to 1986 and a Certified Public Accountant at Peat Marwick Mitchell from 1976 to 1980.  She is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music in the New Orleans Musicians’ Village and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Berklee College of Music.  Ms. Wilkins received a B.S. and M.B.A. from Cornell University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
 
Russell F. Smith III, Appointee for United States Commissioner, International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
Russell F. Smith III is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at the Department of Commerce (DOC), a position he has held since 2010.  He concurrently serves as the United States Commissioner on the International Whaling Commission.  Mr. Smith also serves as a United States Commissioner on the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean and a United States Commissioner on the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.  Prior to his position at DOC, Mr. Smith held various positions in the Office of the United States Trade Representative between 2002 and 2010, including Director for International Environmental Policy and Multilateral Environmental Agreements and Director for the Free Trade Area of the Americas and the Caribbean.  He was an attorney in the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice from 1995 to 2002.  Prior to joining the government, Mr. Smith was an Associate at Spiegel & McDiarmid.  Mr. Smith received a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.
 
Dr. Guy “Bud” Tribble, Appointee for Member, President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee
Dr. Guy “Bud” Tribble is Vice President of Software Technology at Apple Inc., a position he has held since 2002.  Before rejoining Apple in 2002, Dr. Tribble served as Vice President of Engineering at Eazel Inc from 2000 to 2001.  Prior to that, he served as Chief Technology Officer for the Sun-Netscape Alliance.  In 1985, Dr. Tribble helped found NeXT Computer, where he served as Vice President of Software Engineering until 1992.  He was part of the original Macintosh design team in the 1980s.  Dr. Tribble received a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego and an M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington, Seattle.