09 December 2009

Mari Del Carmen Aponte Nominated as Ambassador to El Salvador

President Obama names attorney as envoy to the Republic of El Salvador

 

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
December 9, 2009

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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

• Patricia A. Hoffman, Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Department of Energy

• Mari Del Carmen Aponte, Ambassador to the Republic of El Salvador, Department of State

• Donald E. Booth, Ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Department of State

• Larry Persily, Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects

President Obama said, “The depth of experience these individuals bring to their roles will be valuable to my administration as we work to bring about real change for the American people. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals today:

Patricia A. Hoffman, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Department of Energy

Patricia A. Hoffman was named Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability at the United States Department of Energy in November 2007. The focus of her responsibility is to provide leadership on a national level to modernize the electric grid, enhance the security and reliability of the energy infrastructure and facilitate recovery from disruptions to the energy supply both domestically and internationally. Patricia has 14 years of experience at the Energy Department developing and managing technology research programs critical to the electric sector for the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability as well as the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. During her tenure, she managed efforts that resulted in the longest demonstration of ceramic components operating in an industrial gas turbine. Additionally, under her leadership, the Department demonstrated the first recuperated, industrial gas turbine for distributed generation applications. Ms. Hoffman holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Ceramic Science and Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University.

Mari Del Carmen Aponte, Nominee for Ambassador to the Republic of El Salvador, Department of State

Mari Del Carmen Aponte is currently an attorney and independent consultant with Aponte Consulting. From 2001-2004, Ms. Aponte was the Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA). Prior to that, she practiced law for nearly twenty years with Washington D.C. based law firms. Ms. Aponte also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Council of La Raza and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. She is also a member of the Board of the University of the District of Columbia and Rosemont College. She served as president of the Hispanic National Bar Association; the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia; and is a member of the District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Commission. In 2005, she was also elected to the Board of Directors of Oriental Financial Group (NYSE-OFG). In 1979, as a White House Fellow, Ms. Aponte was Special Assistant to the United States Housing and Urban Development Secretary Moon Landrieu. Ms. Aponte has a B.A. in Political Science from Rosemont College, a M.A. in Theatre from Villanova University, and a J.D. from Temple University.

Donald E. Booth, Nominee for Ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Department of State

Donald E. Booth is currently the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Zambia. Prior to that, Ambassador Booth served three years as Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia. Ambassador Booth previously served as Director of the Office of Technical and Specialized Agencies at the State Department’s Bureau of International Organization Affairs. Prior to this position, he served as Director of the Office of West African Affairs. He has also served in other positions at the State Department including Deputy Director of the Office of Southern African Affairs, the Economic Counselor in Athens, and the Division Chief for Bilateral Trade Affairs; desk officer in the Office of Egyptian Affairs and the Office of East African Affairs; and various roles while stationed at embassies in Bucharest, Brussels and Libreville. Ambassador Booth earned a B.A. from Georgetown University, an M.A. from Boston University and an M.A. in National Security Studies from the National War College.

Larry Persily, Nominee for Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects

Larry Persily has worked for more than a decade on oil and gas issues for three Alaska governors and the Alaska State Legislature. Mr. Persily currently is an aide handling oil and gas issues for Alaska State House Finance Committee Co-Chair Mike Hawker. Mr. Persily previously served as Deputy Commissioner at the Alaska Department of Revenue until 2003 and returned in 2004 to assist the state and North Slope oil and gas producers with developing a natural gas pipeline to serve North American consumers. He later worked in the Office of the Governor of Alaska in Washington, D.C., assisting with oil and gas, Arctic, commerce, transportation and tax issues. Mr. Persily has represented the state at oil and gas conferences and presented on Alaska oil and gas and fiscal issues. Mr. Persily is known statewide for his bipartisan credentials — he has worked for Democrats and Republicans — and his knowledge on oil and gas matters, particularly the history of the 40-year effort to develop a North Slope natural gas pipeline. Mr. Persily served as editor of the Department of Revenue’s 2002 report, “State Financial Participation in an Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline.” Mr. Persily earned a B.A. from Purdue University.