As PCPFS executive director, Ms. Oliphant will provide leadership in devel- oping and implementing a comprehensive national program for promoting physical activity and sports through cooperative efforts with the public, private and non-profit sectors.  She will advise federal health officials, including the Assistant Secretary for Health and the Surgeon General, on the physical acti- vity component of national disease prevention and health promotion initiatives to prevent cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, obesity and other serious, costly health conditions related to physical inactivity.

Ms. Oliphant will also provide leadership, motivation and guidance to organ- izations and individuals promoting sports participation and safety and the values of sportsmanship. She will have oversight of the Council's longstanding motivational programs--the President's Challenge Physical Activity and Fit- ness Awards Program for school children and the Presidential Sports Award for Americans of all ages.

Ms. Oliphantīs previous policy and program experience includes oversight of the Hudson Institute's first international welfare-to-work project and a position as entitlements policy analyst at the Cato Institute. She has published on edu- cation, welfare reform, and public/private partnerships and has appeared on cable and network news as an expert in discussing these topics.  In January 2001, Ms. Oliphant joined the White House Office of Presidential Personnel to assist in selecting candidates for presidential appointment to such agencies as the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities and the Corporation for National and Community Service. A political science graduate of Butler University in Indiana, Ms. Oliphant received a Master of Science degree in European Social Policy from the London School of Economics.