Obama nominates KCUR's Patty Cahill

President Obama on Monday nominated the general manager of Kansas City's public radio station KCUR-FM to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Patricia Deal Cahill, who has run KCUR since 1987, will serve on the board of the corporation, which Congress established to allocate the more than $400 million annually distributed to noncommercial TV and radio stations.

Cahill said Monday she was told she would be the first active public radio station manager to be named to the board. Her nomination must be approved by the U.S. Senate. She'll attend quarterly board meetings and help the corporation set policy and priorities. Cahill, who has worked in public radio since 1969, retains her post at KCUR and at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she is assistant professor of communications studies.

Also among the 10 nominees announced by the Obama administration Monday was Alexa E. Posny, the Kansas Commissioner of Education. If approved, she will become the Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services for the U.S. Department of Education.