HONORABLE MARK V. ROSENKER
ACTING CHAIRMAN

Mark V. Rosenker of Virginia was sworn in as the 11th Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board on August 11, 2006. His two-year term as Chairman expired in August 2008; President Bush has nominated Mr. Rosenker for a second two-year term as Chairman, and has also appointed him Vice Chairman and, as a result, Acting Chairman. Rosenker has been head of the agency, either as Chairman or Acting Chairman, since March 2005. He is currently serving his second five-year term as Member, which expires December 31, 2010.

Beginning January 20, 2001 until the announcement of his nomination to the Board, Mr. Rosenker served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Military Office. In this capacity, he had responsibility for policies, personnel and plans that involve Department of Defense assets in direct support of the President.

Prior to his White House appointment, Mr. Rosenker was Managing Director of the Washington, DC office for the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), overseeing the development, implementation and management of a national public information program dealing with all facets of organ transplantation in the U.S. Before joining UNOS, Mr. Rosenker served 23 years as Vice President, Public Affairs for the Electronic Industries Alliance.

Mr. Rosenker's interest and experience in transportation safety dates back more than three decades to his time at a major national public affairs organization. His clients there included the American Safety Belt Council, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, and the Safety Helmet Council of America. He later served as Director of Communications for the American Moped/Motorized Bicycle Association.

Mr. Rosenker's professional experience also includes service in the federal government at the Department of Interior, the Federal Trade Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In 1990, he was appointed by President Bush a member of the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). After serving four years, Mr. Rosenker received the Commission's highest honor, the ABMC Meritorious Service Medal.

A retired Major General in the Air Force Reserve, General Rosenker entered the Air Force in 1969 through the University of Maryland ROTC program. He is a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and the Air War College.

During his 37 ½ -year Air Force career, General Rosenker received a number of awards and decorations, including the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with One Oak Leaf Cluster and the Legion of Merit.

For his leadership role in recreational boating issues, the National Safe Boating Council presented Mr. Rosenker their highest honor, the Confluence Award, twice. This is traditionally given only to Members of Congress, and Mr. Rosenker is one of the few representatives of the Executive Branch to be so honored.  In addition, in September 2007, the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators presented Chairman Rosenker with the NASBLA Award for his years of promoting boating safety.

Rosenker was the Board Member on scene for the Safety Board's investigations into the April 2004 derailment of Amtrak's City of New Orleans near Flora, Mississippi; the November 2004 crash of a charter jet aircraft in Houston, Texas (the plane was on its way to pick up former President George H.W. Bush for a flight to Latin America); the September 2005 derailment of a Metra commuter train in Chicago; the October 2005 capsizing of the passenger vessel Ethan Allen in Lake George, New York, which claimed 20 lives; the November 2005 grade crossing collision involving a Metra commuter train in Chicago;  the December 2005 crash of a seaplane in Miami, Florida that killed all 20 persons aboard; the November 2006 accident in Alexandria, Virginia where two track inspectors were killed when struck by a transit train;  the January 2007 derailment of a CSX freight train in Shepherdsville, Kentucky that resulted in a hazardous materials spill and fire; the August 2007 collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota that killed 13 motorists who were crossing the bridge at the time of the collapse; the June 2008 midair collision of two emergency medical helicopters in Flagstaff, Arizona; and the investigation of the crash of the small aircraft piloted by adventurer Steve Fossett, after the wreckage was found in October 2008, more than a year after the aircraft was reported missing.  He also was part of the NTSB's Go Team for the June 2003 capsizing of the charter fishing vessel Taki-Tooo, near Garibaldi, Oregon, which took the lives of 11 of the 19 people aboard.

In March 2008, Rosenker chaired the NTSB's public hearing into the accident involving a cargo ship that struck the fendering system of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.