The Corporation for National and Community Service board has elected Mark Gearan, president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges since 1999, as its new chairman. Mr. Gearan, a Democrat, formerly served as director of the Peace Corps under President Clinton and held several positions in the Clinton White House.

Mr. Gearan, who has served on the bipartisan board since 2000, will become chairman on June 1, replacing Stephen Goldsmith, a Republican who has been named deputy mayor of New York.

His previous positions include director of federal state relations for Massachusetts and executive director of the Democratic Governors’ Association. He was also campaign manager for Al Gore’s vice-presidential campaign in the 1992 elections.

The national-service board—which supervises AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and other volunteer programs, along with the new Social Innovation Fund grant program for effective charities—also elected Eric Tanenblatt vice chairman.

Mr. Tanenblatt, senior managing director at McKenna Long & Aldridge law firm, is a Republican who was appointed to the board in 2008. He is a former chief of staff to Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and held positions at the Health and Human Services Department and the Peace Corps during the George H.W. Bush administration. He is also founder and past chairman of Hands on Georgia, a group that promotes volunteerism.

The corporation’s 15-member board still has seven vacant seats. President Obama is expected to nominate candidates to fill them shortly.