THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release January 19, 1994 PRESIDENT NAMES TWO TO WHALING COMMISSION President Clinton announced today that he intends to appoint D. James Baker to be a Commissioner and Michael F. Tillman to be a Deputy Commissioner of the International Whaling Commission. The IWC is an organization of 38 nations established to provide for the conservation of the world whale stock. The United States is represented on the Commission by a Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner appointed by the President upon the concurrent recommendations of the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Commerce. D. James Baker is the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. Before joining the Clinton Administration, he was President of Joint Oceanographic Institutions Incorporated, and a Distinguished Visiting Scientist at the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. From 1973-86, he taught at the University of Washington, where he was a Professor, Chairman of the Oceanography Department, and Dean of the School of Ocean and Fishery Sciences. He has also taught at Harvard University and been a visiting scholar at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Throughout his career, Baker has been involved in a wide variety of public service and professional committees and boards. He is a past President of the Oceanography Society, and serves on the Department of Energy's Space Initiative Technical Oversight Group. Baker is a graduate of Stanford University, and holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University. He is 56 years old, and married. Michael F. Tillman, an Alaskan native and member of the Tlingit Indian Tribe, has worked for the National Marine Fisheries Service in Seattle since 1972. He is currently the Appointed Director of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, as well as serving on the affiliate faculty of the University of Washington's College of Ocean and Fisheries Sciences. He has also served on a number of scientific boards and international commissions relating to marine mammals and species preservation. Tillman holds his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from the University of Washington. He is married, and has three sons. # # #