Walter Isaacson, who headed CNN from 2001 to 2003, was nominated to chair the board, succeeding James K. Glassman. Dana Perino, Bush's fourth and final press secretary, was nominated to fill a seat formerly held by Sen. Ted Kaufman, D-Del.

The board by law must be bipartisan.

Others nominated:

- Victor Ashe, former ambassador to Poland and former mayor of Knoxville, Tenn.

- Michael Lynton, the chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

- Susan McCue, a former top aide to Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and founding president of poverty-fighting The ONE Campaign.

- Michael Meehan, a Democratic strategist who has been a senior adviser to a number of U.S. senators.

- Dennis Mulhaupt, founder and managing director of Commonwealth Partners, Inc., which provides philanthropic advice.

- S. Enders Wimbush, senior vice president for international programs and policy at the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank.