Georgetown School of Foreign Service professor Anthony Lake is one step closer to being officially named the head of UNICEF, the U.N.’s children’s agency, having been approved by U.N. Chief Ban Ki Moon as his nomination for UNICEF chief.

The Associated Press reports that UNICEF’s board is expected to approve of the selection. The chief of UNICEF has always been an American, largely because the U.S. is UNICEF’s greatest contributor.

Ban said that Lake “brings with him a wealth of experience after a long and distinguished career with the United States government.”

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said that he “will bring extraordinary experience, strategic vision, passion and energy to UNICEF’s essential work.”

“Over the course of his remarkable career, he has dedicated himself to advancing the rights, protection, welfare, development, and education of children,” she said.

The U.S. named Lake as its nomination for UNICEF head in February. His predecessor, if he is approved by the board, Ann Veneman, is due to step down on April 30.

Lake was a foreign policy adviser to both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama during their presidential campaigns, and he surprised some when he endorsed Obama over Hillary Clinton in 2008. Lake had been rumored for several positions in the Obama government, but in March of 2009, Lake told the Voice he has been reluctant to reenter government, even while advising the Obama campaign.

Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service may be out one very valuable professor by the end of the school year. The U.S. has nominted Anthony Lake, the former national security adviser to Bill Clinton and Distinguished Professor in Practice of Diplomacy in the SFS, to be chief of UNICEF.

The news comes from the Associated Press, which obtained letters sent from U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice to other United Nations ambassadors touting Lake’s merits as a potential UNICEF chief. Rumors have been floating around about his potential nomination for a while, though. It is likely that he will ultimately be the candidate that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon recommends to UNICEF’s board and who UNICEF approves, too—the chief of UNICEF has always been an American, largely because the U.S. is UNICEF’s greatest contributor.

Rice wrote that Lake would bring “extraordinary experience, strategic vision and energy to UNICEF’s essential work,” the AP reports.  She pointed out his nine years on the board of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, where he served as chair from 2004-2007.

“As chairman, Tony oversaw a significant increase in private funding for the organization,” Rice said. “In addition to his ongoing involvement with the U.S. national committee, he has seen UNICEF in action in countries across Africa, in Haiti, and elsewhere.”

The term of current UNICEF chief Ann Veneman will expire on April 30, at which point Ban will recommend a new cheif to UNICEF’s board.

Lake was a foreign policy adviser to both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama during their presidential campaigns. He surprised some when he endorsed Obama over Hillary Clinton in 2008 and has served on the boards of several international aid programs. Lake had been rumored for several positions in the Obama government, but in March of 2009, Lake told the Voice he has been reluctant to reenter government, even while advising the Obama campaign.

“I told [the Obama campaign] I did not want anything and then I reaffirmed that during the course of the campaign,” Lake said. “At a certain age you decide the torch should be passed, and a lot of very competent people could do what I would have been doing.”

Lake declined to comment on the nomination through his assistant, Jeff Mettille.