Official U.S. Government information about theJan Brecht-Clark
Director, National Coordination Office for
Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing
Dr. Jan Brecht-Clark has served as the Director of the National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing since December 17, 2012. A Senior Executive Service (SES) official from the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), she is recognized in the areas of research and policy development related to transportation safety and security. She has over 30 years of experience with federal and state government offices as well as industry firms.
In 2011-2012, Dr. Brecht-Clark served for 19 months as the Counselor for Transportation with the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. Appointed by the Secretary of Transportation, she managed a team of professionals from across DOT, working to assist the government of Afghanistan in developing their governance capacity over transportation assets and responsibilities. Her team assisted the Afghan government in the design and approval of both a civil aviation authority and a railroad authority.
Prior to that, Dr. Brecht-Clark was RITA's Associate Administrator for Research, Development and Technology, responsible for facilitation of coordination of $1B in transportation research across the Department. Her office managed the University Transportation Center program, comprising multiple U.S. universities pursuing transportation research, as well as a program of over $140M in multi-modal related research projects.
Dr. Brecht-Clark served in the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) as Deputy Director of the compliance office, overseeing domestic and international operations. She also served in the White House as the Director of Aviation and Transportation Security in the Office of Homeland Security and later the Homeland Security Council. She was instrumental in coordinating interagency agreements on policies and programs to ensure aviation and transportation security following 9/11.
Before that, Dr. Brecht-Clark held several positions at the FAA, including Director of Aviation Security Policy and Planning, Deputy Director of Research and Development, and Technical Assistant to the Deputy Administrator. She has also worked for the State of Ohio and within private industry early in her career.
Dr. Brecht-Clark graduated from The University of Iowa with a bachelor's degree in psychology and earned a Ph.D. in guidance and counseling from The Ohio State University.
