A Kansas University alumna has been appointed by President Bush to a federal post that monitors commodity trading.

Jill Maycumber Sommers recently was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Sommers, who graduated from Fort Scott High School in 1987, received a KU bachelor’s degree in political science in 2006.

She previously headed the U.S. Regulatory Affairs division at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

She was associate director of government affairs at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. She also worked for former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission works to protect market users and the public from fraud, manipulation and abusive practices related to the sale of commodity and financial futures and options. Among the markets it monitors is the Kansas City Board of Trade in Kansas City, Mo.