For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 5, 2003

Personnel Announcement

President George W. Bush today announced the nomination of two individuals and his intention to appoint one individual to serve in his administration:

The President has nominated Stephen D. Mull of Virginia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Lithuania. Mr. Mull currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. Prior to this assignment, he served at the State Department both as Deputy Executive Secretary and as the Director of Southern European Affairs. His previous overseas assignments include service as the Senior Politics Officer in Pretoria, Consular and Political Officer in Warsaw, and as Consular Officer in Nassau. Mr. Mull earned his bachelor's degree from Georgetown University.

The President has nominated Wayne E. Neill of Nevada, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Benin. Mr. Neill currently serves at the State Department as the Special Advisor for the Bureau of African Affairs. His previous overseas assignments include service as Political and Economic Counselor in Cairo and Energy Advisor at the U.S. Mission to the Organization for the Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris. He also served as Economic Officer in Riyadh, Budapest and Tunis. Mr. Neill earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California, and is a graduate of the National War College.

The President intends to appoint Secretary Thomas J. Ridge of Pennsylvania, to be a Governor of the Board of Governors of the American National Red Cross.

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