BARBARA CHOW APPOINTED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION

WASHINGTON—The National Geographic Society has announced the appointment of Barbara Chow as executive director of its Education Foundation and Geography Education Outreach program. Chow will be responsible for the Society’s $100 million campaign to improve geography education, educational partnerships and public awareness campaigns, and a network of more than 150,000 educators in every state that provides teacher training programs.

“Barbara Chow’s expertise and wealth of experience in the education and policy arenas will be invaluable to us as we continue to advance the Society’s education goal of restoring geographic literacy in the nation's schools through new initiatives and programs,” said Terry Garcia, executive vice president, mission programs.

Much of Chow’s more-than-20-year career has been spent in the federal government, working on economic and legislative issues, including eight years in the White House. Most recently, she was deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council for the Clinton administration, responsible for policy development, communications and legislative strategy to advance key domestic presidential priorities such as education, youth and family.

In addition to her White House duties, Chow was associate director for Education, Income Maintenance and Labor in the Office of Management and Budget from 1997-2001. She was responsible for policy, budgetary, management and financial issues relating to programs administered by the Departments of Education and Labor, the Social Security Administration, the food and nutrition programs administered by the USDA, and aging, children and family programs run by Health and Human Services. From 1993-1997, she was special assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs.

Chow has a master’s degree in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley. She and her husband, Steve Ray, and their two children live in Washington, D.C.

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April 2001