SEC appoints first archivist.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced that David Brown has been appointed as the agency's first archivist. Brown will lead the agency's records management and vital records preservation efforts, according to the SEC.

"The appointment of the agency's first archivist demonstrates the commission's commitment to preserving the history of the agency, and to using those resources for the benefit of today's investors and of future generations" said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox in a release. "The new archivist will ensure that commission staff, practitioners, scholars, journalists, and indeed every citizen will have access to the thinking and analysis of the many outstanding people who have worked here."

As SEC Archivist, Brown's duties include setting policies and procedures for the maintenance and retention of records of all types, including paper, microform, electronic, audio, and video.

A certified archivist, Brown most recently served as Special Assistant to the Archivist of the United States at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). During his 14 year tenure at NARA, he served in various capacities, performing all aspects of archival work in the federal records lifecycle. In 2001, Brown was assigned for six months to the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, where he helped develop the NATO Archives Programme. He twice received NARA's Archivist's Special Achievement Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Achieving Organizational Goals--in 2003 for his work on the development of appraisal guidelines for science records and in 2006 for authoring NARA's Transfer Guidance for Digital Photographic Records.