Mary A. Bomar became the 17th Director of the National Park Service October 2006. She is responsible for 391 sites and leads a team of 20,000 employees and 140,000 volunteers in preserving America’s special places for enjoyment of current (about 270 million per year) and future visitors. Mrs. Bomar has held varied leadership positions. She joined the National Park Service (NPS) in 1990 after spending over 12 years with the Department of Defense, United States Air Force. 

Confirmed as Regional Director of the NPS Northeast Region in July 2005, Mrs. Bomar led the strategic planning, management and operation for more than 100 parks and areas of national significance plus numerous technical assistance and partnership programs in the 13-state region.  The area is one of the most heavily-visited of the seven NPS regions with more than 50 million visitors each year.

Mrs. Bomar was superintendent of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia from 2003-05. There she presided over the redevelopment of Independence Mall and the relocation of the Liberty Bell to its new home in the Liberty Bell Center. She strengthened partnerships with the Independence Visitor Center and National Constitution Center which are also housed in new facilities within the park.
In 2000, Mrs. Bomar was Superintendent of Oklahoma City National Memorial during start-up operations. She was also the first NPS State Coordinator for Oklahoma. In July 2001, Mrs. Bomar’s responsibilities increased when she assumed overall managerial responsibility for the operation and administration of the Washita Battlefield National Historic Site in Cheyenne, Oklahoma.

As State Coordinator, Mrs. Bomar served as the primary National Park Service representative, coordinating activities in Oklahoma City, Washita Battlefield National Historic Site, Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Historic Route 66 and the Trail of Tears National Historic Trails with other federal, state, city and local partners and the Cherokee Nation.

In January 1994, Mrs. Bomar accepted a management position at the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park—home to the largest collection of Spanish Colonial resources in the United States—and was promoted to the position of Assistant Superintendent. And before her move to Oklahoma, she completed a detail as the Acting Superintendent of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

Mrs. Bomar’s National Park Service career began in the financial arena at Amistad National Recreation Area, Texas, where she became chief of administration. During her four-year tenure at Amistad, the NPS took advantage of her management expertise, assigning her a portfolio as a management circuit rider, visiting and assisting many national park sites in the Southwest.