Nomination of Robert Bigger Oakley To Be United States Ambassador to Somali
September 10, 1982
The President today announced his intention to nominate Robert Bigger Oakley to be Ambassador to the Somali Democratic Republic. He would succeed Donald K. Petterson.
Mr. Oakley served in the United States Navy as a lieutenant in 1952 - 1955. He entered the Foreign Service in 1957 and was general services officer in Khartoum in 1958 - 1960. In 1960 - 1962 he was foreign affairs officer in the Department. He was a member of the United States Delegation to the Seventeenth Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City in 1962 - 1963 and also to the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Sessions in 1969 - 1970. He was economic and political officer in Abidjan (1963 - 1965), political officer in Saigon (1965 - 1967), and in Paris (1967 - 1969). In 1969 - 1970 he was Advisor for Political and Security Affairs at the United States Mission to the United Nations in New York. In 1971 - 1974 he was political officer in Beirut and in 1974 was international relations officer in the Department. He served on the National Security Council at the White House in 1974 - 1977 and was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Department in 1977 - 1979. In 1979 - 1982 he was Ambassador to the Republic of Zaire.
He graduated from Princeton University (B.A., 1948) and attended graduate school at Tulane University in 1956 - 1957. His foreign language is French. He is married and has two children. He was born March 12, 1931.
Nomination of Orville G. Bentley To Be an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture
September 10, 1982
The President today announced his intention to nominate Orville G. Bentley to be an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture (Science and Education). This is a new position.
Mr. Bentley is presently serving on a consulting appointment to the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development, Agency for International Development, Department of State. He served on a consulting appointment to the Technical Assistance Bureau, Agency for International Development, Department of State, in 1970 - 1976. He was dean of the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences and director of the agricultural experiment station at the South Dakota State University, Brookings, S. Dak., in 1958 - 1965.
He graduated from South Dakota State College (B.S., 1942) and the University of Wisconsin (M.S., 1947; Ph. D., 1950). He is married, has two children, and resides in Urbana, Ill. He was born March 6, 1918.