Nominated by President Barack Obama on June 9, 2009, to serve as the ninth Chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Ms. Tenenbaum was confirmed by the Senate on June 19, 2009, and sworn into office on June 23, 2009, to a term that expires in October 2013. Ms. Tenenbaum was elected South Carolina's State Superintendent of Education in 1998 and completed her second term in 2007. She previously practiced health, environmental, and public interest law with the firm Sinkler & Boyd, P.A. from 1986-1991. She served as chairman of the Environmental and Natural Resources Committee of the South Carolina Bar Association. Ms. Tenenbaum received her Bachelor of Science in 1972 and Master of Education degrees in 1974 from the University of Georgia and her law degree in 1986 from the University of South Carolina. Ms. Tenenbaum is married to Samuel J. Tenenbaum.