Hormats named to key State Dept. position

WASHINGTON, July 18 (UPI) -- Robert Hormats, a vice chairman of investment bank Goldman Sachs, has been tapped for a key U.S. State Department post, White House officials say.

Hormats was named by the Obama administration Friday to be the department's undersecretary for economic, energy and agricultural affairs, an official announcement indicated.

Should he be confirmed by the Senate, Hormats would head up efforts by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to help refine Washington's relationships with China, India and Russia, moving to base them on economic, trade and environmental issues, The New York Times reported.

Hormats "will be key in Secretary Clinton's efforts to bring more visibility to the work of the department on economic matters," an unnamed senior U.S. official told the newspaper.

A biography provided by the White House said Hormats, who has been with Goldman Sachs since 1982, had previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs from 1981 to 1982, ambassador and Deputy U.S. Trade Representative from 1979 to 1981, and Senior Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs at the State Department from 1977 to 1979.