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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 nominate the following individual to a key Administration post:

  • Jon M. Holladay – Chief Financial Officer, Department of Agriculture

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

  • Natalie Wyeth Earnest – Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of the Treasury
  • Gregory L. Parham – Assistant Secretary for Administration, Department of Agriculture
  • Gabrielle Giffords – Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board

President Obama said, “I am honored that these talented individuals have decided to join this Administration and serve our country.  I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”

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

Jon M. Holladay, Nominee for Chief Financial Officer, Department of Agriculture
Jon M. Holladay is currently the Deputy Chief Financial Officer at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), a role he has held since 2008.  Prior to his current position, Mr. Holladay served as USDA's Associate Chief Financial Officer for Financial Policy and Planning from 2004 to 2006.  From 1999 to 2003, he served as a Supervisory Program Analyst in the Office of the CFO, and from June 2003 to December 2003, was detailed to USDA’s National Finance Center as the Acting Deputy Director.  Mr. Holladay served as a Supervisory System Accountant in the Office of the CFO from 1997 to 1999, as a Staff Accountant from 1995 to 1997, and as a Member of the Chief Financial Officer’s Financial Statement’s Task Force from 1992 to 1995.  Mr. Holladay received a B.S. in Accounting from George Mason University School of Business.

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

Natalie Wyeth Earnest, Appointee for Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of the Treasury
Natalie Wyeth Earnest is a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, a position she has held since 2011.  Ms. Wyeth Earnest first joined the Department in 2009 as Spokesperson for International Affairs.  Before joining the Administration, she served as a spokesperson for the Presidential Inaugural Committee. Prior to this, Ms. Wyeth Earnest was the Deputy Communications Director for Obama for America in Colorado and Press Secretary for the Democratic National Convention Committee.  From 2006 to 2007, she was the Press Secretary for the Louisiana Recovery Authority.  Ms. Wyeth Earnest received a B.A. from the University of Southern California.

Dr. Gregory L. Parham, Appointee for Assistant Secretary for Administration, Department of Agriculture
Dr. Gregory L. Parham is the Acting Assistant Secretary for Administration at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), a role he has held since June 2012.  Dr. Parham has served in a number of roles at USDA since 1982, including Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Chief Information Officer for APHIS, Associate Chief Information Officer in the Office of the Chief Information Officer, and Executive Director of USDA’s “Year 2000 Program Office”.  He first joined USDA as a Staff Epidemiologist for the Food Safety and Inspection Service and later served as National Program Leader for Veterinary Medicine and Livestock Production for the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service.  Dr. Parham was an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland from 1987 to 1997.  He began his federal service as an Epidemic Intelligence Officer at the Center for Disease Control from 1980 to 1982.  Dr. Parham received a B.S. and a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Ohio State University and a M.A.S. from Johns Hopkins University.

Representative Gabrielle Giffords, Appointee for Member, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board
Representative Gabrielle Giffords founded Americans for Responsible Solutions, an advocacy organization, in 2013.  She represented the Eighth District of Arizona in the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2012.  In Congress, she served on the Committee on Armed Services, and from 2011 to 2012, she was Ranking Member of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology.  Ms. Giffords served in the Arizona State Senate from 2000 to 2005.  Before her election to public office, she was President and Chief Executive Officer of El Campo Tire, Inc.  In 2013, she received the Profile in Courage award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.  As a Fulbright Scholar, Ms. Giffords served in Mexico from 1993 to 1994.  Ms. Giffords received a B.A. from Scripps College and an M.R.P. from Cornell University.