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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 5, 2001

President Bush to Nominate Four Individuals to Serve in His Administration

President George W. Bush today announced his intention to nominate four individuals to serve in his administration.

The President intends to nominate Joseph J. Jen to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education and Economics.  He is currently the Dean of the College of Agriculture at California Polytechnic State University and was previously the Division Chairman and Department Head of the Division of Food Science and Technology at the University of Georgia. Jen is a graduate of Taiwan University and received a Master's degree from Washington State University.  He earned a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.B.A. from Southern Illinois University.

The President intends to nominate Mary Kirtley Waters to be Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Congressional Relations.  She is presently the Senior Director and Legislative Counsel for ConAgra Foods where she has served since 1986.  Before joining ConAgra, she served as a Legislative Assistant for Congressman Larry J. Hopkins from 1984 to 1986.  Waters is a graduate of the University of Illinois and received her law degree from George Mason University.

The President intends to nominate Jeffrey R. Holmstead to be an Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for Air and Radiation. He is currently with the law firm of Latham & Watkins and served as an Associate Counsel under former President George H.W. Bush.  He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Yale Law School.

The President intends to nominate Eileen J. O'Connor to Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division.  She is an Officer for Tax Services with the accounting firm of Aronson, Fetridge and Weigle and was a Partner in the Office of Federal Tax Services at Grant Thornton from 1984 to 1999.  She has served as an Adjunct professor of law at both George Mason University Law School and Georgetown University Law School.  O'Connor is a received her undergraduate degree from Columbus State University and received her law degree from Catholic University.