National-Service Agency Chairman Nominated Ambassador to Spain

Alan Solomont, chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service board, could soon be off to Spain.

President Obama announced last night that he plans to nominate Mr. Solomont as ambassador to Spain and Andorra. Mr. Solomont, a Democrat who was appointed to the corporation’s bipartisan board in 2000 and became chairman in February, has helped lead the Obama administration’s push to expand AmeriCorps and other national-service and volunteer programs.

An investor in health-care companies who helped raise money for Mr. Obama’s campaign, Mr. Solomont also has a strong presence in Boston’s nonprofit world. He has served on numerous boards, including those of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, Hebrew Senior Life, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation, and the WGBH Educational Foundation.

If the Senate confirms Mr. Solomont’s appointment, the corporation will have seven vacancies on its 15-member board. The federal agency is also without a chief executive following the withdrawal of Mr. Obama’s first choice, Maria Eitel, president of the Nike Foundation.