President Biden Announces Key Appointments

WASHINGTON – Today, President Biden announces his intent to appoint the following individuals to serve in key roles on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, & Nutrition, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science:

José Andrés, Co-Chair, the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, & Nutrition
Elena Delle Donne, Co-Chair, the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, & Nutrition
Lisa E. Delplace, Member, the Commission of Fine Arts
May Berenbaum, Member, the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science
Rafael Bras, Member, the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science
Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Member, the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science
Erika Gonzalez, Member, the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science
Juan Maldacena, Member, the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science
Cora Bagley Marrett, Member, the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science
Valerie Montgomery Rice, Member, the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science
Craig Partridge, Member, the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science
Padma Raghavan, Member, the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science
Pedro A. Sanchez, Member, the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science
Robert Sellers, Member, the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science
Cherese Winstead, Member, the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science

The President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, & Nutrition

The President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition (PCSFN) is a federal advisory committee that aims to promote healthy, accessible eating and physical activity for all Americans, regardless of background or ability. President Biden issues Executive Order 14048, renewing the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition. This Executive Order allows for continued promotion of the National Youth Sports Strategy, and provides for the work of the Council to include a focus on expanding national awareness of the importance of mental health as it pertains to physical fitness and nutrition.

José Andrés as Co-Chair

José Andrés is an internationally recognized culinary innovator, New York Times bestselling author, educator, and humanitarian. He was named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” in both 2012 and 2018, and awarded the 2015 National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama. As the chef/owner of the award-winning ThinkFoodGroup restaurant collective, Andrés has been a pioneer of Spanish tapas in the United States and is also known for his groundbreaking avant-garde cuisine. In 2010, Andrés formed World Central Kitchen, a non-profit which uses the power of food to nourish communities and strengthen economies in times of crisis. His team served over 3.6 million meals to the people of Puerto Rico following Hurricane María. Since then, WCK has activated on six continents, serving tens of millions of fresh meals in the aftermath of both natural and manmade disasters. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization partnered with thousands of restaurants, farmers, and community leaders around the country to combat food and nutrition insecurity, laying the groundwork for smarter national food policy—one which builds longer tables in the US and around the world. Currently, Andrés and World Central Kitchen are working in Ukraine and four neighboring countries, feeding refugees who have fled their homes. Andrés currently serves as co-Chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Food and Nutrition Security Task Force, was named Washington Business Journal’s CEO of the Year in 2020 for his leadership and impact on the global business community during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was awarded the Princesa de Asturias Foundation’s 2021 Concordia Prize for World Central Kitchen’s humanitarian work. As a naturalized citizen originally from Spain, Andrés has also been a tireless advocate for immigration reform.

Elena Delle Donne as Co-Chair

Elena Delle Donne is one of the most dominant players in the WNBA. The Washington Mystics star is a Top 25 WNBA player of all time, two-time WNBA MVP (2015, 2019), WNBA Champion (2019), six-time WNBA All-Star honor, and four-time All-WNBA First Team selection. Delle Donne is also the first WNBA player to join the 50-40-90 club, a group of elite sharp shooters comprised of only eight other NBA players. A member of Team USA, Delle Donne took home a gold medal during the 2016 Olympics and was the WNBA scoring champion in 2015. The 2013 WNBA Rookie of the Year, the Delaware native was drafted second overall in the WNBA draft. Prior to her WNBA career, Delle Donne attended the University of Delaware to remain close to her tight-knit family. While at Delaware, Delle Donne led her team to its first ever NCAA Sweet Sixteen her senior year, was a consensus first team All-American, and finished as CAA Conference Player of the Year three times. Off the court, Delle Donne is the author of a middle-grade series, Hoops, and released her memoir My Shot: Balancing it All and Standing Tall. Additionally, Delle Donne and her wife, Amanda, turned their passion for woodworking and design into their own business, Deldon, creating custom pieces like cutting boards, wall art and basketball hoops. In 2017, she founded the Elena Delle Donne Foundation to raise funds and awareness of Lyme disease research, special needs programs and animal welfare work.

The Commission of Fine Arts

The Commission of Fine Arts is an independent federal agency charged with giving expert advice to the President, the Congress and the federal and District of Columbia governments on matters of design and aesthetics, as they affect the federal interest and preserve the dignity of the nation’s capital. The Commission is composed of seven presidentially appointed experts in relevant disciplines including art, architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design.

Lisa E. Delplace as Member

Lisa E. Delplace, FASLA, is a landscape architect and Chief Executive Officer Emeritus of Washington, DC-based OEHME, VAN SWEDEN | OvS. In a career that spans four decades, Lisa has demonstrated comprehensive knowledge of ecological processes and a commitment to their artistic execution. Her diverse body of work ranges from bucolic sculpture parks to urban redevelopments and reflects a compelling sculptural relationship between architecture and landscape. Lisa holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Michigan and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects’ Council of Fellows. She serves as a visiting critic and lecturer for universities and professional organizations and has international experience in Europe, the Middle East, and service as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya, East Africa.

The President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science

The President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science evaluates nominees for the National Medal of Science, a Presidential Award to recognize individuals for their outstanding contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical, engineering, social, and behavioral sciences. Since its establishment, the National Medal of Science has been awarded to 506 distinguished scientists and engineers whose careers spanned decades of research and development.

May Berenbaum as Member

May Berenbaum has been on the faculty of the Department of Entomology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for more than 40 years, serving as head since 1992 and as Swanlund Chair of Entomology since 1996. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, she has chaired two National Research Council study committees, including Status of Pollinators in North America, testifying before Congress on the study’s findings. Since January 2019, she has served as Editor-in-Chief of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Ecological Society of America, and the Entomological Society of America. In 2011, she was awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, and, in 2014, she received the National Medal of Science from President Obama.

Rafael Bras as Member

A native of Puerto Rico, Rafael L. Bras is a professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He holds the K. Harrison Brown Family Chair. Dr. Bras works in the field of hydrology with particular interest on land-atmosphere-biosphere interactions. He was Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He was also Distinguished Professor and Dean of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering of the University of California, Irvine and spent 32 years as a professor in the departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Bras is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Puerto Rico.

Joan Ferrini-Mundy as Member

Dr. Joan Ferrini-Mundy was appointed the 21^st president of the University of Maine and its regional campus in Machias in 2018. She was also named Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation for the University of Maine System and is a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Ferrini-Mundy came to Maine following her service as the chief operating officer of the National Science Foundation. Prior to that role, she headed the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Education and Human Resources for six years. She also has been a faculty member and administrator at her alma mater, the University of New Hampshire, and at Michigan State University. President Ferrini-Mundy’s awards and recognitions include the U.S. Senior Executive Service Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive, Michigan State University Distinguished Professorship, election as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Mathematical Society, and the 2020 Seaman A. Knapp Award for leadership and contributions to food and agricultural sciences.

Erika Gonzalez as Member

Dr. Erika Gonzalez is the CEO & President of both South Texas Allergy & Asthma Medical Professionals (STAAMP) and STAAMP Clinical Research. She previously served as the Chief of the Allergy, Immunology & Rheumatology division at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio and was an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. She serves on the Board of Directors for Central Catholic High School, Girls Inc. San Antonio, and the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation. She is an Advisor to the Dean of Science Engineering & Technology at St. Mary’s University, on the Stock Epinephrine Committee with the Texas Department of State Health Services, and Co-Chair for the Small Business for America’s Future. Dr. Gonzalez recently founded the nonprofit Con Corazon SA to address health inequities and emergency preparedness. She is a native of San Antonio and served 10 years of Active Duty Service as a Medical Officer in the U. S. Air Force. She was selected as a 2019 Presidential Leadership Scholar.

Juan Maldacena as Member

Juan Maldacena was born in 1968 in Argentina, where he obtained his college degree. He moved to the U.S. for his physics Ph.D., completed in 1996 at Princeton University. He has been a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton since 2001 and currently holds the Carl P. Feinberg chair. His research interests include quantum field theory, quantum gravity, string theory, and cosmology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His awards include the Dannie Heineman Prize, the Einstein Medal, the Mac Arthur Fellowship, and the Breakthrough Prize in Physics.

Cora Bagley Marrett as Member

Cora Bagley Marrett is Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has held posts at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Western Michigan University; the University of Wisconsin System; and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. At the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, she was Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. For eleven years, she served as an administrator at the National Science Foundation and was appointed Deputy Director of the National Science Foundation by President Obama. Throughout her career, she has served on governing or advisory boards with the Social Science Research Council, the Russell Sage Foundation, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and the Office of Naval Research. President Carter appointed her to the Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island, which examined the nuclear power incident in Pennsylvania. She holds honorary degrees from Virginia Union University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Wake Forest University.

Valerie Montgomery Rice as Member

Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD, FACOG, is the sixth President and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine and the first woman to lead the free-standing medical institution. Prior to joining Morehouse School of Medicine, Montgomery Rice was the founding director of the Center for Women’s Health Research at Meharry Medical College, one of the nation’s first research centers devoted to studying diseases that disproportionately impact women of color. She currently serves on the Georgia Commission on Women, chairs the Georgia Department of Public Health’s Covid-19 Health Equity Council, and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. A Georgia native, Montgomery Rice holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a medical degree from Harvard Medical School, an honorary degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and a Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree from Rush University.

Craig Partridge as Member

Professor Craig Partridge is the chair of the department of Computer Science at Colorado State University. Previously, he was Chief Scientist at Raytheon BBN Technologies. Partridge is a member of the Internet Hall of Fame and a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Partridge is a member of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Academies. He is a former chair of ACM’s Special Interest Group on Data Communication and a former member of the National Science Foundation’s Computer and Information Science and Engineering Advisory Committee. Partridge received his A.B., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University.

Padma Raghavan as Member

Padma Raghavan is the inaugural Vice Provost for Research and Professor of Computer Science at Vanderbilt University. Prior to joining Vanderbilt in 2016, Raghavan served as the Associate Vice President for Research and Strategic Initiatives, the founding Director of the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, and Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University. Raghavan was named a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2013 in recognition of her contributions to the development of energy-efficient supercomputing. She also serves on editorial boards of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and the Advisory Boards of the Computing and Information Science and Engineering Directorate and the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure of the National Science Foundation. Raghavan also serves on multiple committees of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, including Technical Advisory Boards for the Army Research Laboratory on Computational Science and Information Sciences.

Pedro A. Sanchez as Member

Pedro Sanchez was born and raised in Cuba, where he worked on his family’s farm. He has spent 50 years alternating between American universities and CGIAR’s international research centers. He has been faculty at North Carolina State University, the University of California Berkeley, Colombia University, and the University of Florida, where he is currently a research professor of tropical soils and core faculty member of the Food Systems Institute. Cambridge University Press published Sanchez’s book “Properties and Management of Soils in the Tropics” in 2019 and its translation into Spanish in 2021. Sanchez has received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from the Catholic University of Leuven, Guelph University in Canada, the Ohio State University, and North Carolina State University. He won the World Food Prize in 2002, became a MacArthur Foundation Fellow in 2004, and was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2012. In 2016, President Obama appointed him to the President´s Committee on the National Medal of Science.

Robert Sellers as Member

Robert M. Sellers is the Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion, Chief Diversity Officer, and the Charles D. Moody Collegiate Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Michigan. Prior to joining the Provost’s Office, Dr. Sellers was chair of the University of Michigan Department of Psychology. His research interests include ethnicity, racial and ethnic identity, personality and health, athletic participation, and personality. He has received the Theodore Millon Mid-Career Award in Personality Psychology from the American Psychological Foundation, the American Psychological Association Minority Fellowship Program Research Achievement Award, and the APAGS Kenneth & Mamie Clark Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Professional Development of Ethnic Minority Graduate Students. Sellers received his B.S. in Psychology from Howard University and his doctorate in personality psychology from the University of Michigan.

Cherese Winstead as Member

Dr. Cherese Winstead is ranked as Full Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Delaware State University and currently serves as Dean of the College of Agriculture, Science & Technology. She previously served as the Department Chair of Chemistry at Delaware State University for over eight years. She is a member of Delaware NASA Space Grant, Delaware Comprehensive Sickle Cell Research Center, Materials Research Society, American Chemical Society, and the Delaware Science Coalition. Dr. Winstead is Founder and President of the Young Chemists Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to the early education of underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Dr. Winstead obtained her Ph.D. from The Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University.

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