Press Release nr98-135
Press Release · Tuesday, August 18, 1998

Washington, DC

Archivist of the United States John Carlin today announced his appointment of Gary M. Stern as General Counsel of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). He will join NARA on September 14, 1998.

"Mr. Stern combines a wide range of legal and administrative experience with extensive work on information issues, both inside and outside the government." Mr. Carlin said. "He has provided legal services to the Department of Energy, the U.S. Federal Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Civil Liberties Union. He has dealt with the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Federal and Presidential Records Acts, and declassification issues from the standpoint of both public users of records and government agencies."

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Vassar College, and earning his law degree at Yale University, where he distinguished himself as editor-in-chief of the Yale Journal of International Law, Mr. Stern became a staff attorney for the Center for National Security Studies of the American Civil Liberties Union. Among other things in his seven years there, he worked with Congressional committees on drafting the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act and the Electronic Freedom of Information Act.

He also served as legal consultant to the National Academy of Science’s Committee on Declassification of Information for the Environmental Remediation and Related Programs of the Department of Energy. Then, as senior policy and research analyst for the U.S. Federal Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, he advised on secrecy and classification issues while overseeing a CIA search process for radiation related information.

He has spent the last three and a half years in the Office of General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Energy, where at different times he has been assistant general counsel for contractor litigation, special assistant to the general counsel, deputy assistant general counsel for information law, acting assistant general counsel for defense and national security programs, and acting deputy assistant general counsel for standards of conduct. He is currently serving as a senior advisor to the Secretary of Energy.

He has been the principal legal counsel for the Openness Initiative and declassification program at the Department of Energy, where he has promoted measures to reduce backlogs and increase responsiveness to inquiries from both the public and employees, and he has had responsibility for drafting, amending, and implementing regulations governing agency records. He is an experienced litigator but also helped the Energy Department settle many legal matters through negotiation. He has experience in supervising staffs of attorneys and is a career member of the Senior Executive Service.

For additional PRESS information, please contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (301) 837-1700 or by e-mail.

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