"John Carlin will provide necessary leadership in terms of managing the institution, providing fiscal responsibility, and performing the important cultural and historical responsibilities," the President said. "He is an experienced leader with proven commitment to preservation, access and use of government records. I am confident his sharp communication skills as well as his experience working with Congress and balancing budgets will provide the skilled management the Archives needs during these challenging times."
John Carlin is the current Vice Chairman of the Board, and former President and CEO of Midwest Superconductivity Inc, a high technology research and development company in Lawrence, Kansas.
Mr. Carlin served as Kansas Governor from 1979 to 1987. During his two terms, Governor Carlin held positions as National Governor's Association Chair and Chairman of Midwest Governors Conference. Prior to assuming the Governorship, Mr. Carlin served as a Representative in the Kansas State House from 1971 to 1979, where he was elected Minority Leader and later Speaker of the House.
Both as legislator and governor, Carlin was one of the leaders in an initiative to construct a state of the art Kansas Museum of History which opened in 1984. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Kansas Historical Society and the National Archives Foundation Board.
Carlin worked hand-in-hand with the Kansas State Historical Society to catalog and chronicle both his personal and gubernatorial papers quickly after leaving office. His records were made available and without restriction approximately one year after leaving the Governorship.
The National Archives preserves and makes available for research the permanently valuable records of the Federal government. Among other things, the Archives is responsible for the records management programs in all of the Executive Branch Departments and agencies and temporarily stores Executive Branch records.