Nomination of J. Robinson West To Be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior
June 13, 1981
The President today announced his intention to nominate J. Robinson West to be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior (Policy, Budget and Administration).
Mr. West was a member of the Presidential personnel transition staff. In 1977-80 he was vice president and subsequently first vice president of Blyth, Eastman, Dillon and Co., an investment banking firm. Mr. West served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Economic Affairs in 1976-77, assistant to the Secretary of Defense in 1976, and as a member of the White House staff in 1974 - 76. He has served on a number of advisory commissions, including the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere in 1977. He was elected a member and secretary of the Chester County Government Study Commission and served as a trustee of the United Fund of Greater Philadelphia. He was also director of the Health and Welfare Council of Chester County. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. West was selected as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men in Pennsylvania.
Mr. West graduated from the University of North Carolina (B.A., 1968) and Temple University (J.D., 1973). He resides in Unionville, Pa., and was born in Bryn Mawr, Pa., on September 16, 1946.
Nomination of Arthur W. Hummel, Jr., To Be United States Ambassador to the People's Republic of China
June 13, 1981
The President today announced his intention to nominate Arthur W. Hummel, Jr., to be Ambassador to the People's Republic of China. He would succeed Leonard Woodcock, who has resigned.
Mr. Hummel, 61, is currently U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan. A career Foreign Service officer who was born in China of American missionary parents and speaks fluent Chinese, Mr. Hummel has emerged as the Department's senior sinologist in a career spanning 30 years.
Mr. Hummel received an M.A. in international studies from the University of Chicago in 1949. He has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary (1972 - 75) and Assistant Secretary (1976) of the Department of State's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. In addition to his current Ambassadorial post in Pakistan, he has served as U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia (1975-76) and to Burma (1968-71). Previously he was Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (1963-65), and Deputy Director of the Voice of America (1961-63), after attending the National War College in 1960.
Mr. Hummel was born June 1, 1920, is married to the former Betty Lou Firstenberger, and resides in Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Hummel have two sons, Timothy and William.