page_title: John Berry (administrator)
section_title: Office of Personnel Management
hierarchical_section_title: John Berry (administrator) / Career / Office of Personnel Management
caption_attribution_description: English: Berry greeting employees at OPM headquarters on his first day as agency director
context_page_description: Morrell John Berry is an American former government official who was named President of the American Australian Association in 2016. Berry was director of the United States Office of Personnel Management from 2009 to 2013 and United States Ambassador to Australia from 2013 to 2016.
  Berry was born in Montgomery County, Maryland, to parents who worked for the federal government. He completed degrees at the University of Maryland, College Park and Syracuse University and worked in local government and as a legislative aide in state government from 1982 to 1985. From 1985 to 1994, he worked as legislative director for U.S. Representative Steny Hoyer. He held posts in the U.S. Treasury Department, the Smithsonian Institution, and the U.S. Department of the Interior until 2000, and worked as director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the National Zoological Park until 2009, when he was nominated by President Barack Obama as director of the United States Office of Personnel Management. Berry took office after being confirmed by the United States Senate in April 2009. In June 2013, President Obama nominated Berry to replace Jeff Bleich as U.S. Ambassador to Australia.
context_section_description: In 2008, Berry was mentioned as a possible nominee for U.S. Secretary of the Interior, a position obtained by Ken Salazar. President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Berry as director of the Office of Personnel Management on March 3, 2009, and did so on March 4. The nomination hearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on March 26, 2009, led to expectation of easy confirmation for Berry, despite opposition from conservative activists based on Berry's homosexuality. In the hearing Berry stated he supported any effective employee compensation system, but that the federal government had the obligation to give employees with comparable job performances similar pay and treatment. He pledged to preserve veterans preference and supplement it with training programs to prepare veterans for federal jobs, and promised reviews of proposals to improve the security clearance and hiring processes. Berry emphasized the importance for agencies to use all recruitment tools, citing relocation benefits that could keep agencies competitive with the private sector, and stated he would create a strategic plan and set performance goals for the Office of Personnel Management. Berry had stated support for benefits for same-sex partners of federal employees and a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.
  The Senate confirmed Berry on April 3, 2009, and he was sworn in April 13 as the first agency director in the Obama administration with all senior staff in place. The ceremonial swearing in on April 23 was attended by First Lady Michelle Obama. At the time, Berry was, according to the Human Rights Campaign, the highest-ranking openly gay official to serve in the executive branch in any U.S. administration.
caption: Berry greeting employees at OPM headquarters on his first day as agency director
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