Joseph N. Mondello of New York, to be Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. Mr. Mondello, a prominent New York attorney, has served as Of Counsel at Berkman, Henoch, Peterson, Peddy, & Fenchel, P.C. of Garden City, New York since 1997. He has been Chairman of the Nassau County Republican Committee in Westbury, New York since 1983. From 2006-2009, he was concurrently Chairman of the New York Republican State Committee. Mr. Mondello honorably served as an Airman in the New York Air National Guard (1955-1956), a Corporal in the U.S. Army (1956-1958) and in the New York Guard for 25 years, attaining the rank of Major General. He earned a B.A. from Hofstra University and a J.D. from New England School of Law.

Stephen Akard of Indiana, to be Director of the Office of Foreign Missions (with the Rank of Ambassador), Department of State. Mr. Akard has served as a senior advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, U.S. Department of State since January, 2017. Previously he was Chief of Staff, Vice President and General Counsel, and Director of International Development for the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana from 2005 -2017. Earlier in his career, Mr. Akard was a Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State from 1997 – 2005 and had assignments in India, Belgium, and as a special assistant in the Executive Secretariat of the State Department. He earned his B.A, M.B.A. and J.D. degrees from Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana. Mr. Akard was honored with several awards while serving in the State Department, including two Meritorious Honor awards, and a Distinguished Alumni Award from Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis in 2000.

Sharon Fast Gustafson of Virginia, to be General Counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a term of four years. For twenty-six years, Ms. Gustafson has practiced before the EEOC and the federal courts, in a wide variety of employment-related disputes. After receiving her J.D. with honors from Georgetown University in 1991, she worked in the labor and employment law section of the law firm Jones Day. Since 1996 she has been engaged in the solo practice of law, advising and representing both employees and employers. In 2016 the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association awarded her its Lawyer of the Year award “in recognition of outstanding dedication to Civil Rights, Equality, and Justice.” That award recognized Ms. Gustafson’s work–starting at the EEOC and culminating at the U.S. Supreme Court–as plaintiff’s counsel in Young v. UPS, in which Ms. Gustafson won legal protections for pregnant workers nationwide. Ms. Gustafson and her husband live in Virginia and have nine children and eleven grandchildren.

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President Donald J. Trump Announces Designation of Personnel to Key Administration Post

The following individual to be to be the Chair of the Surface Transportation Board: