Coyle to join OSTP

President Obama has turned to a veteran Clinton administration appointee in nominating Philip Coyle to become associate director for national security and international affairs at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Coyle, whose past appointments include a seven-year stint as director of operational testing and evaluation at the Department of Defense, also spent a total of 32 years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

He was one of nine members of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 2005 and 2006, and was a deputy assistant secretary for defense programs at the Department of Energy in the Carter administration.

Most recently, he was affiliated with the Center for Defense Information , a national security think tank. Should he be confirmed by the Senate, Coyle will fill the third of four OSTP associate director slots.

Updated 11/11/2009: The original version of this story incorrectly stated that President Obama had not yet nominated anyone to become the associate director for environment at OSTP. In fact, Shere Abbott has been serving in that position since her Senate confirmation in April. Obama has yet to nominate an individual to become associate director for science at OSTP.