CHICAGO (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama has appointed a new Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Harvard-educated architect Shaun Donovan, a New York native.
Donovan, 42, currently heads New York's Housing Preservation and Development Department. He is also a former Clinton administration HUD official who has gained a national reputation for curtailing low-income foreclosures, developing affordable housing and managing the largest housing plan in the nation.
In his weekly radio address, Obama outlined Donovan's role in dealing with the current mortgage crisis, saying that he will bring "fresh thinking, unencumbered by old ideology and outdated ideas" to his new position. Obama also remarked that "few will be more essential" to the effort to revive the ailing housing market, than HUD.
At present, one in 10 U.S. homeowners is either delinquent on mortgage payments or in foreclosure, With more than 259,000 homes receiving a foreclosure-related notice last month, the Federal Reserve has predicted that the nation's 2008 foreclosure figure will reach 2.25 million.
If he is confirmed by the Senate, Donovan would become the nation's top housing official.
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