Appointment of Marion C. Blakey as Special Assistant to the President and Director of Public Affairs

The President today announced the appointment of Marion C. Blakey to be Special Assistant to the President and Director of Public Affairs. She would succeed Thomas F. Gibson III.

Since 1985 Ms. Blakey has been a Director of Public Affairs and Special Assistant to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education. From 1982 to 1984, she was Director of Public Affairs at the National Endowment for the Humanities. Previously Ms. Blakey served as Director of that agency's youth programs and in its Office of Planning and Policy Assessment.

Ms. Blakey holds a bachelor's degree from Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia (1970), where she majored in international affairs. She attended the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies for graduate work in Middle East affairs. Ms. Blakey is married, has one child, and resides in Washington, DC.