President nominates former Indiana attorney

President Barack Obama has nominated a former Indiana lawyer as well as a former Indiana representative and gubernatorial candidate for roles in his administration. Both positions must receive Senate confirmation. 

Following an announcement Thursday, Obama sent a nomination to the U.S. Senate for Anne Slaughter Andrew to be the nation's ambassador to Costa Rica within the Department of State. He also nominated former gubernatorial candidate Jill Long Thompson to be a member of the Farm Credit Administration Board. Both positions must receive Senate confirmation.

In a statement, the president said, "I appreciate the dedication and expertise that these individuals have shown throughout their careers, and I am confident that they will show the same commitment in these new roles."

Andrew is the principal of Washington, D.C.-based New Energy Nexus LLC, where she advises companies and entrepreneurs about ways to capitalize on this new energy economy. She's worked with environmental groups for years, including the Nature Conservancy since 1995, the Sierra Club, and the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation. She also co-founded a medical bio-tech consulting company called the Anson Group in 2004.

An attorney who earned her degree from Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis, Andrew has also advised companies in corporate environmental and energy practices. She also served as of counsel at Bingham McHale, co-chair of the Environment/Energy Team at Baker & Daniels, and was a partner at the Washington, D.C., law office of Patton & Boggs.

She is also the wife of former state and national Democratic Party Chairman Joe Andrew, who gave a key endorsement to Obama during last year's presidential primary.

Thompson, a former U.S. House of Representatives member for three terms, would take a post on an independent federal agency that examines and regulates agricultural lending institutions. After leaving Congress, she served as the former Under Secretary for Rural Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture during President Bill Clinton's presidency. She ran against Gov. Mitch Daniels during last year's election.