U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk selected Gail Strickler, an experienced former textile company CEO and associate director at Philadelphia University’s College of Textiles and Sciences, as the U.S. lead negotiator for textiles. She will supervise negotiations on textile and apparel products, advise Kirk on textile policy and work to expand access to foreign markets. Strickler, most recently working with the University’s Institute for Textiles and Apparel Product Safety, previously served as vice president of the Global Apparel Division for Duro Textile LLC after that company acquired Saxon Textile Corp., where she spent 26 years and ended as CEO. She has been president of the Textile Distributors Association, a board member for the National Council of Textile Organizations and served on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Cotton Board. For more information, see www.ustr.gov.