Presidential transition of Barack Obama time of their election, President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden were incumbent U.S. Senators from Illinois and Delaware respectively. In accordance with Article I, Section 6 of the United States Constitution, both were required to resign their respective Senate seats on or before January 20, 2009, in order to become President and Vice President. Obama resigned from the Senate effective November 16, 2008. Initially, it was thought that his replacement would be named by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Since the term for the seat expired in January 2011, it would come up for its normal election in 2010 with
Kerri-Ann Jones Kerri-Ann Jones Kerri-Ann Jones is a vice president of research and science at The Pew Charitable Trusts. She is the former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the U.S. State Department. Nominated by President Barack Obama in June 2009, she was sworn in on August 20 of that year. Kerri-Ann Jones received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Barnard College in 1975. After graduating, she worked as a research assistant in immunology and developmental biology at Rockefeller University. She received a PhD in 1985 from Yale University's Department of Molecular Biophysics