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All Americans

Meet the Dartmouth alumni have been making headlines recently with appointments to President Barack Obama's administration and the Senate.

Kirsten E. Gillibrand '88
U.S. Senator (D-NY)

Kirsten E. Gillibrand '88 (Photo by Joseph Mehling '69)

Gillibrand was selected by New York Governor David Paterson to fill the Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Gillibrand was previously a member of Congress representing the eastern New York 20th Congressional District.

In a Jan. 23 statement, President Obama said, "Governor Paterson made a wonderful choice in appointing Kirsten Gillibrand to fill Secretary Clinton's seat in the United States Senate. During her career, Kirsten has been a strong voice for transparency and reform in government and shares the belief that government should be open, accessible and work for all of our citizens."

Gillibrand graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth with a degree in Asian studies. She received a law degree from UCLA in 1991.

Administrative Appointments

Jodi Archambault Gillette '91
Deputy Associate Director, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs

Jodi Archambault Gillette '91 (Photo courtesy United Tribes Technical College)

President Obama announced Jodi Archambault Gillette '91's appointment on Feb. 6, praising her  "deep passion for public service." The White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs provides the primary link between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and state, local, and tribal governments. Gillette will oversee Indian and tribal affairs.

During the presidential campaign, Gillette served as the North Dakota first American vote director. She is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. At Dartmouth, Gillette majored in government and Native American studies. She holds an M.P.A. from the University of Minnesota.

Joseph J. Boswell '06
Executive Assistant, Office of the First Lady

Joseph J. Boswell '06 (Photo courtesy Joseph Boswell '06)

Boswell is the executive assistant to Jackie Norris, First Lady Michelle Obama's chief of staff. "I love working for Mrs. Obama," says Boswell, "and am inspired by her passion and humanity."

Boswell joined the Obama campaign in 2007, as a field organizer for the Iowa caucus. He was later named a regional director for the Pennsylvania primary and eventually became a regional field director in Ohio. At Dartmouth, Boswell majored in government.

Stephen W. Bosworth ’61
Special Representative for North Korea Policy

Stephen W. Bosworth ’61 (Photo courtesy Tufts University)

Stephen W. Bosworth ’61 is the State Department’s senior official handling North Korean issues. In a Feb. 20 statement, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “I have asked Ambassador Bosworth to oversee U.S. efforts in the Six-Party Talks to achieve the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner."

Bosworth is the dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He was the ambassador to South Korea from 1997–2000 and was the State Department’s director of policy planning as well as ambassador to the Philippines from 1984–1987. At Dartmouth, he majored in international relations.

Timothy F. Geithner '83
Secretary of the Treasury

Timothy F. Geithner '83 (Photo: Getty Images)

The former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Geithner succeeds another Dartmouth alumnus, Henry Paulson Jr. '68. At Geithner's swearing-in on Jan. 26, President Obama told him, "You've got your work cut out for you, as I think everybody knows, but you also have my full confidence, my deepest trust, my unyielding belief that we can rise to achieve what is required of us at this moment."

Geithner majored in government and Asian studies at Dartmouth, and pursued a master's degree in international economics and East Asian studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He received a Nelson Rockefeller Public Service Award from Dartmouth's Rockefeller Center in 2006.

Neal K. Katyal '91
Principal Deputy Solicitor General

Neal K. Katyal '91 (Photo by David Deal)

President Obama appointed Katyal to the second highest position in the Office of the Solicitor General, which conducts government litigation in the U.S. Supreme Court. Katyal is a professor of law at Georgetown University. In 2007 he won
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld in the United States Supreme Court, a case that challenged the policy of military trials at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba.

Katyal majored in government modified with Asian studies at Dartmouth. He earned his J.D. from Yale Law School.

William J. Lynn III '76
Deputy Secretary of Defense

William J. Lynn III '76 (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Defense)

William J. Lynn III '76 has been appointed by President Obama as deputy secretary of defense, the second-highest ranking official in the department under Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Lynn most recently served as vice president for government operations at technology firm Raytheon Co. At a Jan. 22 press briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called Lynn "superbly qualified," citing "his experience going back to his Pentagon jobs during the Clinton administration."

Lynn majored in history at Dartmouth.

Todd D. Stern '73
Special Envoy for Climate Change

Todd D. Stern '73 (Photo courtesy Todd Stern '73)

Announcing Stern's appointment on Jan. 26, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called him "a creative and clear thinker, a man of great sensibility and good judgment," and a person with "the benefit of understanding the intersection of policy and politics."

A staff secretary to President Bill Clinton, Stern also served that administration as a senior climate negotiator, representing the United States at the United Nations climate conferences in Kyoto and Buenos Aires. Stern is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a partner and vice chair of the Public Policy and Strategy Group at the law firm WilmerHale.

Stern majored in English at Dartmouth. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School.

By ELIZABETH KELSEY and KELLY SEAMAN

 

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