RALEIGH, (SGRToday.com) - President Obama announced he is appointing Stephen Preston and Ambassador Wendy Sherman to the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.

“I am honored that these talented individuals have decided to serve our country.  They bring their years of experience and expertise to this Administration, and I look forward to working with them," said the president in a post to the whitehouse.gov. site.

Biographies:

Stephen W. Preston is a Partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (WilmerHale) and Chair of the firm’s Defense, National Security and Government Contracts Practice, positions he has held since 2015.  Mr. Preston served as General Counsel of the Department of Defense from 2013 to 2015 and as General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2009 to 2013.  Previously, Mr. Preston was a Partner at WilmerHale from 2001 to 2009, where he was Co-Chair of the Defense, National Security and Government Contracts Practice.  Mr. Preston served as General Counsel of the Department of the Navy from 1998 to 2000, Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice from 1995 to 1998, and Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Department of Defense from 1993 to 1995.  He first joined WilmerHale in 1986 and was a Partner from 1991 to 1993.  Mr. Preston received a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.


Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman is Senior Counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group, a position she has held since January 2016.  She is also a Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and served as a Fall 2015 Resident Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics.  Ambassador Sherman served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2011 to 2015 and was Acting Deputy Secretary of State from November 2014 to January 2015.  She previously served as Vice Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group.  Before becoming a founding member of The Albright Group in 2001, she served as Counselor for the State Department from 1997 to 2001 and served as Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State and Policy Coordinator on North Korea.  Prior to her confirmation as Counselor, Ambassador Sherman was President and CEO of the Fannie Mae Foundation.  From 1993 to 1996, she was Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs under Secretary of State Warren Christopher.  In 2008, Ambassador Sherman was appointed by Congressional leaders to serve on the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Proliferation and Terrorism.  She is a recipient of the National Security Medal and was a member of the Defense Policy Board of the Department of Defense.  Ambassador Sherman attended Smith College and received a B.A. from Boston University and an M.S.W. from the University of Maryland.