Washington, Jan. 21 (CNA) Taiwanese American journalist Kelu Chao has been appointed as interim CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the White House announced Thursday.

Chao, a news executive at Voice of America (VOA), will replace Michael Pack, who resigned as head of the USAGM at the request of U.S. President Joe Biden shortly after the new leader took office Thursday, according to a VOA report.

Chao has been a vocal critic of Pack, a conservative documentary filmmaker and a staunch supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump, according to American media reports.

The Biden administration named Chao to serve as acting CEO of the USAGM, a federal agency that oversees public media networks, including VOA, which provide objective news and information in countries around the world where media access is limited.

Chao is a graduate of National Chengchi University's Journalism Department in Taipei and holds a master's degree in speech communication and instructional media from Kent State University in the U.S.

Prior to her appointment as interim head of the USAGM, Chao was program director and Associate Director for Language Programming at VOA. Her appointment Thursday was one of 34 acting managerial positions announced by the new Biden administration.

Her father, Chao Ting-chun (趙廷俊), former vice president of one of Taiwan's oldest newspapers, the Central Daily News, was honored with a posthumous presidential citation in 2016 for his contribution to media and journalism in the country.