United States President Barack Obama nominated two Brandeis alumni to posts in his administration April 12, according to a White House press release. Lisa Kubiske '75 was nominated to be ambassador to Honduras and Robert J. Zimmer '68 was nominated to be a member of the National Science Board of the National Science Foundation. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Kubiske graduated from Brandeis with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Psychology. She is currently the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia and has previously served as the Director of the Office of Regional Economic Policy and Summit Coordination in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

Kubiske joined the Foreign Service in 1983 and has served in many different positions, including deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo; director for the Office of Economic and Political Affairs at the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong; economics officer at the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai; and Science/Technology officer and consular officer at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico.

She has also been assigned to positions in the U.S., including special assistant to the Undersecretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs; financial economist in the Office of Monetary Affairs; economic/commercial officer in the Office of China and Mongolia Affairs; staff officer and operations watch officer in the Office of the Executive Secretariat.

After graduating from Brandeis, Kubiske earned an Master of Science in foreign service from Georgetown University.

Zimmer, who was nominated to the National Science Board of the National Science Foundation, wrote in an e-mail to the Justice, "I would be eager to contribute towards the ability of the NSF to continue and in fact enhance its crucial national role."

Zimmer, who is the current president of the University of Chicago, graduated from Brandeis with a bachelor's degree. in Mathematics and obtained his doctorate from Harvard University in 1975. He was the provost at Brown University from 2002 to 2006. Zimmer also serves on the executive committee of the Council on Competitiveness and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He served on the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science until 2010.

He wrote in his e-mail that two Brandeis faculty members, Michael Spivak and Al Vasquez, had a big impact on his thinking regarding mathematics.

While at Brandeis, Zimmer "spent a great deal of time in the library working on mathematics ... and a great deal of time discussing, analyzing, and arguing with [his] friends," he wrote.

Zimmer added that his undergraduate work at Brandeis "was very stimulating and . was an excellent foundation for everything I have done since graduating."

These two nominations of Brandeis alumni follow the nomination of Daniel Shapiro '91 in March to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Shapiro, a Near Eastern and Judaic Studies major, was nominated to the post of U.S. ambassador to Israel on March 9, according to a White House press release.

He is currently the National Security Council's senior director for the Middle East and North Africa and is considered the Obama administration's central liaison to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.