DNC fundraiser tapped as ambassador to Germany

WASHINGTON - President Obama plans to nominate Philip Murphy, a former finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee, to be ambassador to Germany, the White House announced Thursday.

The nomination continues a pattern of naming high-profile fundraisers and contributors to Democratic politics to choice ambassador posts, a long-standing political tradition.

Murphy once served as head of financial firm Goldman Sachs' Frankfurt office, which had oversight responsibility for Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the then-emerging nations of Central Europe. Murphy held a number of executive positions at Goldman Sachs and was a senior director from 2003 until his retirement in 2006.

Murphy served as national finance chairman for the DNC from 2006 to 2009. Since leaving the DNC earlier this year, Murphy has been a principal of Murphy Endeavors LLC.

In other nominations:

_Richard Serino is the nominee for deputy administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Serino is currently the chief of emergency medical services and assistant director for the Boston Public Health Commission. He also has served as superintendent-in-chief for Boston Emergency Medical Services.

_Marcia McNutt is the nominee for director of the U.S. Geological Survey and science adviser to the interior secretary. McNutt joined the faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982 and served as director of the Joint Program in Oceanography & Applied Science & Engineering, a joint program offered by both MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanography Institution. She has participated in 15 major oceanagraphic expeditions and served as chief scientist in more than half of them.

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