Obama picks new interim GSA chief

President Obama has named a new acting administrator of the General Services Administration, a spokeswoman for the agency confirmed on Friday.

Thirty eight-year GSA veteran Paul Prouty replaced Jim Williams in the interim job, effective Thursday.

Prouty's GSA biography shows that most recently, he was assistant regional administrator for the Regional Public Building Service.

He joined GSA in 1971, beginning in the real estate intern program in Denver and working his way up to director of the Real Estate Division in 1988. In 1994 he became chief of the Colorado Service Center, heading up Pubic Buildings Service real property service delivery in Colorado.

The new acting administrator received the GSA Distinguished Service Award in 1987 and 1998 and was named the Outstanding Federal Executive by the Greater Boston Federal Executive Board in 1997. He also received the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award in 2000.

GSA sources said they did not know if Prouty would be nominated for the administrator position and referred all questions to the White House, which did not respond to requests for comment and has not publicly announced the interim appointment.