Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero recently announced the appointment of Debra Steidel Wall as Deputy Archivist of the United States, effective July 3, 2011.

Ms. Wall is a twenty-year veteran of the National Archives. For the past four years she has served as Chief of Staff, providing exceptional leadership and effective management for the agency. She has been actively involved in creating and implementing the “Charter for Change,” the roadmap for the transformation of the National Archives.

As Deputy Archivist, Ms. Wall will be instrumental in achieving the goals of the transformation. An early priority will be helping to build new leadership into effective executive and management teams. She will also assist the Archivist in achieving an open and inclusive work environment; encouraging creativity and investing in innovation.

Prior to serving as Chief of Staff, Ms. Wall was Senior Special Assistant to the Archivist from 2005-2007. In 2000, she was appointed Director of the Lifecycle Coordination Staff, where she led staff responsible for developing policies, processes, systems and standards relating to the life cycle of records. She has also served as the initial manager of the Archival Research Catalog database and other information technology projects, as Deputy Director of the Information Resources Policy and Projects Division, and worked as an archivist in the Motion Picture, Sound, and Video unit. Debra joined the National Archives in 1991 as an archivist trainee and holds an undergraduate degree in history and government from Georgetown University, and a graduate degree in film from the American University.