Librarian of Congress James H. Billington has appointed Mary B. Mazanec as acting director of the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The appointment of Mazanec, who has served since August 2010 as CRS deputy director, will be effective April 3. She will serve until the Librarian selects a new director. CRS Director Daniel P. Mulhollan will retire on April 2, after 17 years in the position.

Before joining CRS, Mazanec was with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where she worked from 2002 to 2010. Most recently she served as a deputy assistant secretary and director of the Office of Medicine, Science and Public Health in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. Mazanec also brings to CRS congressional experience. She was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow, serving as a senior adviser to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Subcommittee on Public Health. Earlier in her career, she served as a senior policy analyst at the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC).

Mazanec received a bachelor’s degree in pre-med from the University of Notre Dame, summa cum laude; a master’s from Case Western Reserve University Medical School; and a Juris Doctorate from Case Western Reserve University Law School.