Ms. McHale is a leading media and communications executive whose career has been devoted to building companies and non-profit organizations dedicated to reaching out to and connecting people around the world. She is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Communications. From 1987 to 2006, McHale helped build the parent company of the Discovery Channel into one of the world’s most extensive media enterprises, with more than 100 channels telecast in over 170 countries and 35 languages to more than 1 billion subscribers.
Judith A. McHale nomincated for Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals for key administration posts: Daniel B. Poneman, Deputy Secretary, Department of Energy; Fred P. Hochberg, President and Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States; Francisco "Frank" J. Sánchez, Under Secretary for International Trade, Department of Commerce; Miriam E. Sapiro, Deputy Trade Representative; Judith A. McHale, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Department of State; Philip J. "P.J." Crowley, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, Department of State; Bonnie D. Jenkins, Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs (with the Rank of Ambassador), Department of State; Thomasina Rogers, Chairman, Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission; Lorelei Boylan, Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor; David F. Heyman, Assistant Secretary for Policy, Department of Homeland Security; Andrew C. Weber, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs), Department of Defense; Stephen W. Preston, General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency; and Laurie Mikva, Board Member, Legal Services Corporation.
President Obama said, "Our nation will be well-served by these fine individuals, who all bring dedication to our country and impressive expertise in their fields. I am confident that they will be effective advocates on behalf of the American people as we work to strengthen the economy, keep Americans safe at home and abroad, and make America work for our families. I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years."
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Judith A. McHale, Nominee for Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Department of State
Ms. McHale is a leading media and communications executive whose career has been devoted to building companies and non-profit organizations dedicated to reaching out to and connecting people around the world. She is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Communications. From 1987 to 2006, McHale helped build the parent company of the Discovery Channel into one of the world’s most extensive media enterprises, with more than 100 channels telecast in over 170 countries and 35 languages to more than 1 billion subscribers.
In the 1990s, McHale launched the non-profit Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership, which supplies free educational video programming to more than half a million students across Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. After two decades at Discovery, McHale extended her commitment to helping build opportunity for people in Africa.
With the Global Environment Fund, a private equity firm, she worked to launch the GEF/Africa Growth Fund, an investment vehicle intending to focus on supplying expansion capital to small and medium-sized businesses that provide consumer goods and services in emerging African markets. McHale’s commitment to global outreach efforts also includes her service on the boards of the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the National Democratic Institute, and Vital Voices. She previously served on the board of Africare.
The daughter of a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, McHale was born in New York City and grew up in Britain and apartheid-era South Africa. Before joining Discovery, McHale served as General Counsel for MTV Networks and helped guide the company’s international expansion.
