President Biden announces key appointments

WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden announced his intention to appoint the following people to fill key positions:

• Christopher R. Hill, candidate for the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Serbia
• Ravi Chaudhary, candidate for the post of deputy secretary of the air force for installations, energy and the environment
• Ann Phillips, Candidate for Director of the United States Maritime Administration at the Department of Transportation
• Glen S. Fukushima, Nominee for Securities Investor Protection Corporation
• Enoh T. Ebong, Candidate for Director, US Agency for Trade and Development

Christopher R. Hill, candidate for the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Serbia
Christopher R. Hill is a career member of the Foreign Service. Most recently, he served as the George Ball 2021 Assistant Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Prior to retiring from the Foreign Service in 2010, Hill served as U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Korea, Poland, and Macedonia, as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs and Pacific and as head of the US delegation to the North Korea Six-Party Talks. . Earlier in his diplomatic career, he was a member of the negotiating team whose efforts led to the Dayton Peace Agreement, ending the Bosnian War. For ten years, Hill was Dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, then Senior Advisor to the Chancellor on Global Engagement and Professor of Diplomacy Practice at the University of Denver. He obtained a BA from Bowdoin College and an MS from Naval War College. The recipient of numerous honors, including the Robert S. Frasure Prize for Peace Negotiations and the Secretary of State’s Award for Distinguished Service, Hill speaks Serbian, Polish, Macedonian and French.

Ravi Chaudhary, candidate for the post of deputy secretary of the air force for installations, energy and the environment
Dr Chaudhary previously served as a senior executive in the United States Department of Transportation, where he was Director of Advanced Programs and Innovation, Office of Commercial Space, at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In this role, Dr. Chaudhary was responsible for executing advanced research and development programs in support of the FAA’s commercial space transport mission. While at DOT, he also served as Executive Director, Regions and Center Operations, where he was responsible for the integration and support of aviation operations in nine regions nationwide.

Dr Chaudhary is a former Air Force officer and pilot, on active duty from 1993 to 2015. He has carried out various operational, engineering and staff missions within the Air Force. As a C-17 pilot, he conducted global air operations, including numerous combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as a ground deployment as Director of the Personnel Recovery Center, Multinational Corps , Iraq. As a Flight Test Engineer, he was responsible for the flight certification of military avionics and equipment for Air Force modernization programs supporting flight safety and accident prevention. Earlier in his career, he supported Global Positioning System (GPS) space launch operations and led third stage and flight safety activities to ensure the full operational capability of the first GPS constellation.

As a systems engineer, he supported the protection activities of the NASA International Space Station to ensure the safety of NASA astronauts. Dr. Chaudhary was also a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during the Obama administration. In this role, he advised the President on the efforts of the executive branch to improve veteran support to the AAPI community. Dr Chaudhary holds an Honors PhD in Executive Leadership and Innovation from Georgetown University’s DLS Program, a Masters in Industrial Engineering from St. Mary’s University as a NASA Graduate Fellow, an MA in Operational Arts and Military Sciences from Air University and a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from the US Air Force Academy. He is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute and holds DOD acquisition certifications in program management, test and evaluation, and systems engineering. Dr Chaudhary is originally from Virginia, where he has lived with his wife for 25 years, Uma, and their two children.

Ann Phillips, Candidate for Director of the United States Maritime Administration at the Department of Transportation
Ann Phillips is a leader in coastal resilience and climate impact on national security at regional, national and international levels. In her current appointment as the first Special Assistant to the Governor of Virginia for Coastal Adaptation and Protection, she is developing a collaborative, whole-of-government and community-based approach to addressing the impact of coastal flooding across the Commonwealth, including the development of the first Resilience Master Plan. In particular, she coordinates federal, state, local, and other partners to create equitable strategies to deal with rising sea levels and the climate impact on federal, marine, and other critical coastal infrastructure in Virginia.

Prior to her current appointment, Ann Phillips served almost 31 years in active service in the United States Navy, retiring as Rear Admiral. His last flag command was as the commander of Expeditionary Strike Group TWO, comprising 14 ships and 10 subordinate commands – all Amphibious Expeditionary Forces on the east coast of the United States. Previously, she served on the Chief of the Naval Operations Staff as Deputy Director and then Director of the Surface Warfare Division, had the honor of commanding and commanding USS MUSTIN (DDG 89) and to command Destroyer Squadron 28.

Glen S. Fukushima, Nominee for Securities Investor Protection Corporation
Glen S. Fukushima is Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP), where his research focuses on US relations with Asia. Prior to joining CAP in 2012, he was based in Asia for 22 years as a senior executive in a European multinational and four US multinationals, including AT&T and NCR, and served on several boards. During this period, he was elected for one term as Vice President and two terms as President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. Prior to his business career, he served as a trade negotiator in the United States Trade Representative’s office as Director of Japanese Affairs and as USTR Deputy Assistant for Japan and China. During the Clinton administration, he was appointed vice chairman of the Japan-US Friendship Commission.

Originally from California and a third generation American of Japanese descent, Fukushima has been active in promoting the advancement of Asian Americans in American society, notably by co-founding CAPA21 (Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans for the 21^st Century). He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Global Council of the Asia Society, the President’s Leadership Council of the Asia Foundation, the Council of Advisors of the US-Japan Council and the Advisory Board of the Asia Center at Harvard University. He has taught as a visiting professor at Kyoto University and Waseda University in Japan. He received his BA from Stanford University, his MA from Harvard University and his JD from Harvard Law School. He also studied at Harvard Business School and was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Tokyo School of Law.

Enoh T. Ebong, Candidate for Director, US Agency for Trade and Development
In February 2021, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. appointed Enoh T. Ebong as director of operations for the United States Trade and Development Agency, an independent federal agency that helps businesses create jobs in United States through the export of American goods and services. for priority infrastructure projects in emerging economies. Since then, she has been the agency’s interim director. This appointment meant a return to USTDA where, from 2004 to 2019, Ms. Ebong held various positions, most recently as General Counsel and Deputy Director of the agency.

Prior to returning to USTDA, Ms. Ebong was Head of Strategic Partnerships at the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream, where she led the development of strategic partnerships to expand access to education, health, financial empowerment and entrepreneurship. Prior to joining USTDA in 2004, Ms. Ebong practiced law in the Boston office of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, PCs representing public and private companies in connection with deals, deals and transactions. financing, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance matters.

Ms. Ebong received her JD from the University of Michigan Law School, an MA in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and an MA in History, Honors, from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. . She is a member of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bar. Ms. Ebong was born in Nigeria and spent her formative years there. She resides in Washington, DC

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