President Obama Appoints Four to U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council

December 29, 2016

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals as Members of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council: 

Walter Ray Allen Jr. is a retired professional basketball player. Mr. Allen played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 18 seasons with four teams from 1996 to 2014. He most recently played with the Miami Heat from 2012 to 2014. Mr. Allen played for the Boston Celtics from 2007 to 2012, the Seattle SuperSonics from 2003 to 2007, and the Milwaukee Bucks from 1996 to 2003.  He is a 10-time NBA All-Star, won two NBA Championships in 2013 and 2008, and received an Olympic gold medal as a member of the 2000 United States Men’s Basketball Team. Mr. Allen was named USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year in 1995.  Mr. Allen founded the Ray of Hope Foundation in 1997.

Deborah A. Oppenheimer is an independent film producer.  Ms. Oppenheimer is a Production Consultant for the BBC series, Downton Abbey, a position she has held since 2010‎. She was Executive Vice President at Carnival Film & Television from 2012 to 2014, Executive Vice President of International Television Production at NBCUniversal International Television from 2010 to 2012, President of Mohawk Productions at Warner Bros. from 1995 to 2009, and a Producer, Development Executive, and Production Executive at Lorimar from 1984 to 1993. Ms. Oppenheimer conceived and produced the feature documentary, “Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport,” for which she received an Academy Award in 2001. She is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Television and Film Arts Strategic Council at the State University College of New York at Buffalo. Ms. Oppenheimer was first appointed to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council in 2012. Ms. Oppenheimer received a B.A. from the State University College of New York at Buffalo.

Dr. Scott Straus is Associate Chair and Director of Graduate Studies of Political Science and Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he has worked since 2004. Dr. Straus previously worked as a freelance journalist based in Africa from 1995 to 1998. He was awarded the Winnick Fellowship at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide in 2011 and the William Kiekhofer Distinguished Teaching Award in 2009. Dr. Straus received a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Jeremy M. Weinstein is a Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, a position he has held since 2015. Dr. Weinstein is also a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, a role he has held since 2011. He served as Deputy and Chief of Staff to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 2014 to 2015 and 2013 to 2014, respectively.  Dr. Weinstein has held various roles at Stanford University including Associate Professor of Political Science from 2009 to 2015, Director of the Center for African Studies from 2007 to 2008 and 2011 to 2013, and Assistant Professor of Political Science from 2004 to 2009. He was Director for Development and Democracy for the National Security Council from 2009 to 2011. Dr. Weinstein is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Global Development. Dr. Weinstein received a B.A. from Swarthmore College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University.

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