Rebecca M. Blank assumes role of Acting Commerce Secretary

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke formally resigned on August 2, 2011 to be sworn in by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the next U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China. Rebecca M. Blank, currently Acting Deputy Secretary of the Commerce Department, will serve as Acting Commerce Secretary.

Blank, a former dean of the Ford School, has worked with the Commerce Secretary since 2009 as the head of the Economic and Statistics Administration (ESA), the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, and, since November 2010, as the Acting Deputy Secretary of Commerce.

In May, President Obama nominated John Bryson to serve as the next Commerce Secretary; the U.S. Senate is currently considering his nomination.

Read more about the leadership transition at Commerce.