North Dakota Academic to Lead Health Agency

President Obama on Friday chose a University of North Dakota official to head the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services agency that, among other things, oversees the federal health professions programs that help train nurses and other health workers. The president announced the selection of Mary Wakefield, director of the university's Center for Rural Health and associate dean for rural health at North Dakota's School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She is a former nurse and a former aide to U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota.