The Honorable Deborah A.P. Hersman was sworn in as the 12th Chairman of the NTSB on July 28, 2009, following her nomination to the post by President Barack Obama and confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Her 2-year term as Chairman runs until July 2011. She is also serving her second 5-year term as a Board Member, which expires on December 31, 2013. Chairman Hersman has been a Member of the NTSB since June 2004 and has chaired numerous public events hosted by the Board. During her tenure at the Board, she has been the Member on scene at 18 major accidents involving all transportation modes. Chairman Hersman holds a commercial driver’s license with passenger, school bus, and air brake endorsements.
From 1999 to 2004, Chairman Hersman was on the senior professional staff for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. She earlier served as staff director and senior legislative aide to Congressman Bob Wise of West Virginia. During her time at the Senate, she was a key staff member involved in passage of the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999, which created a new truck and bus safety administration within the U.S. Department of Transportation. She also worked extensively to negotiate passage of the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002, the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century, the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act, and numerous transportation safety and security measures.
Chairman Hersman earned BA degrees in political science and international studies from Virginia Tech University and an MS degree in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University.
Dr. Joseph Kolly is the director of the NTSB Office of Research and Engineering. He joined the NTSB in 1998 and has worked on many major agency efforts, including the fire and explosion investigation on the TWA flight 800 accident, where he led applied research and testing programs to investigate jet fuel chemistry, airplane fuel tank thermochemistry, jet fuel flammability and ignition energy, and computational and experimental fuel tank combustion modeling. Before he joined the NTSB, Dr. Kolly was a senior research scientist at Calspan–University of Buffalo Research Center in the fields of high-speed aerothermodynamics, aero-optics, and measurement diagnostics; he also held the position of facility and operations manager of the Large Energy National Shock Tunnel. Dr. Kolly holds both a BS and a PhD in mechanical engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Barbara Czech is the deputy director for investigations in the NTSB Office of Highway Safety. In this position, Ms. Czech oversees both the Investigations and Report Development Divisions. She joined the NTSB in 1996 as a survival factors investigator. In her years of service with the Board, she also has been a project manager and served as NTSB assistant managing director. As such, Ms. Czech was the senior program coordinator for the Office of Highway Safety and the Office of Railroad, Pipeline, and Hazardous Materials Investigations. She also served as the primary coordinator of management studies, reviews, and projects/initiatives for NTSB-wide programs. Ms. Czech received a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland.
Daniel D. Filiatrault has been a project manager in the NTSB Office of Highway Safety since May 2010. Before coming to the NTSB, Mr. Filiatrault worked for 19 years at the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia and for 4 years as a consultant investigating and reconstructing motor vehicle collisions, managing research-oriented projects, and developing loss mitigation strategies for motor carriers. He is certified as a traffic accident reconstructionist by the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction, and he holds a commercial driver’s license with a cargo tank endorsement. Mr. Filiatrault has managed research studies and written technical papers on braking performance, vehicle dynamics, and commercial driver fatigue. The papers have been peer-reviewed and published in the Journal of Commercial Vehicles, the Traffic Injury Prevention Journal, and annual conference proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine.
Robert Accetta is a senior supervisor and investigator-in-charge in the NTSB Office of Highway Safety. He has worked for the NTSB for 18 years. His numerous NTSB investigations have included the Fox River Grove, Illinois, school bus grade crossing and the Minneapolis, Minnesota, bridge collapse. Before he came to the Board, Mr. Accetta held positions as a pipeline design engineer, a manager of natural gas purchases, and a police officer in Arlington, Texas. Mr. Accetta was an accident reconstructionist during his tenure with the police department, and he taught accident investigation courses through the North Texas Regional Police Academy. He received a BS in civil engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of (Brooklyn) New York and has an AAS in highway engineering.
Mark Bagnard is chief of the Investigations Division in the NTSB Office of Highway Safety. He has been an NTSB staff member for 13 years and has been involved in numerous accident investigations, including serving as the investigator-in-charge of the Minneapolis, Minnesota, bridge collapse and the Boston, Massachusetts, tunnel ceiling collapse. Before coming to the Board, Mr. Bagnard had been a police officer in Arlington, Texas. He was one of the original members of the department’s accident reconstruction unit and was responsible for training officers. Additionally, he taught at other police agencies, as well as teaching accident investigation courses through the North Texas Regional Police Academy. Mr. Bagnard is certified as a commercial vehicle safety inspector by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.
Dennis Collins is a human performance investigator in the NTSB Office of Highway Safety. He has been with the NTSB for 9 years and has worked on the vehicle pedal misapplication special report and the recent investigation of the bus loss of control and rollover in Dolan Springs, Arizona. Before joining the NTSB, Mr. Collins performed human factors research for the U.S. Army. He also served as a principal investigator on contract with the Federal Highway Administration, managing speed‑related human factors research. He holds both a BS and an MS in industrial and systems engineering from Virginia Tech University. Mr. Collins is also certified as an emergency medical technician (basic) in Virginia and has served in the Dale City Volunteer Fire Department.
Dr. Dan Horak is a senior mechanical engineer in the Vehicle Performance Division of the NTSB Office of Research and Engineering. He has been with the NTSB since 2007. Before joining the NTSB, Dr. Horak had worked as a staff scientist at Honeywell Advanced Technology in Columbia, Maryland, and as a research assistant at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory. Since joining the NTSB, he has worked on numerous major investigations, including the Minneapolis, Minnesota, bridge collapse; the Continental Airlines B737-500 runway departure in Denver, Colorado; and the Chatsworth, California, train collision. His education includes a BS and an MS in mechanical engineering from Ohio State University and a PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT. Dr. Horak has received four Honeywell Technical Achievement Awards and holds eight U.S. patents.
Shane Lack is a senior mechanical engineer in the Vehicle Performance Division of the NTSB Office of Research and Engineering. He has been with the NTSB for 14 years. He specializes in highway vehicle dynamics, computer simulation, and intelligent transportation systems. He has worked on the evaluation of stability control for cars and trucks, the handling of 15‑passenger vans, and the analysis of collision dynamics in support of school bus and motorcoach crashworthiness and occupant safety recommendations. Mr. Lack has also worked extensively to improve the NTSB’s highway vehicle simulation capabilities. Before coming to the NTSB, Mr. Lack worked for Research Engineers, Inc., and Exponent, Inc. He holds a BS in engineering physics. Mr. Lack is the co-author of several SAE papers.
Jennifer Morrison is a vehicle factors engineer in the NTSB Office of Highway Safety. Ms. Morrison has been with the NTSB for 8 years, where she performs the mechanical assessment of vehicles, both commercial and passenger, involved in major highway accidents. Her work at the Board has included investigations such as the truck-tractor semitrailer rollover and motorcoach collision with an overturned truck near Osseo, Wisconsin. She had previously worked as a safety engineer and defects investigator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Ms. Morrison received her BSE degree in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Since joining the NTSB in 2002, she has also earned an associate’s degree in applied automotive technology and certificates in automotive electrical systems; automotive driveability; and automotive suspension, brakes, and alignment from Montgomery College.
Dr. Carl Schultheisz is a research engineer in the Materials Laboratory Division of the NTSB Office of Research and Engineering. He joined the NTSB in 2002 and has since participated in many investigations, including the Minneapolis, Minnesota, bridge collapse and the Boston, Massachusetts, tunnel ceiling collapse. Before coming to the NTSB, Dr. Schultheisz was a materials research engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Polymers Division. He has a BS in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland and an MS and a PhD in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology.
Crystal Thomas is a hazardous materials accident investigator in the NTSB Office of Railroad, Pipeline, and Hazardous Materials Investigations. During her 5 years with the NTSB, she has served as the hazardous materials group chairman or investigator-in-charge on numerous aviation, highway, marine, and railroad accident investigations. Prior to joining NTSB, Ms. Thomas was an explosives test engineer with the Naval Surface Warfare Center. She holds a BS degree in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University.
Gary Van Etten is a senior transportation supervisor in the NTSB Office of Highway Safety. He has worked for the NTSB for 18 years and has been involved in many accident investigations, including the motorcoach rollover in Victoria, Texas, and the vehicle pedal misapplication special investigation. Before joining the NTSB, Mr. Van Etten had been a deputy sheriff with Los Angeles County for 21 years. He has also been an instructor for the Los Angeles and Riverside County Sheriff’s Departments, the Institute of Police Technology and Management, the University of California, and the U.S. Department of Transportation. He holds an MA in religion, a BA in political science, and an AA in education.
Dan Walsh, P.E., is a senior highway accident investigator in the NTSB Office of Highway Safety. He has been with the NTSB for 8 years, participating in investigations including the Minneapolis, Minnesota, bridge collapse and the Boston, Massachusetts, tunnel ceiling collapse. Before joining the Board, Mr. Walsh worked in the public and private sectors on highway design and construction projects, including employment with the city of Fort Worth, Texas, Transportation and Public Works Department and the Montgomery County, Maryland, Planning Department. Mr. Walsh received a BS in civil engineering from Texas A&M University and an MS in civil engineering from the University of Maryland. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the states of Maryland and Texas.
Tom Anderson has specialized in the design, regulatory, and safety aspects of the tank trailer industry. Over a 34-year career with LBT, Inc., he has worked in engineering, sales, marketing, and management at the tank trailer manufacturing facility in Omaha, Nebraska. He has participated on numerous technical panels and conferences in support of tank design and industry safety testing efforts.
Nicholas Artimovich II is a highway engineer in the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Safety Design. He holds a BS in civil engineering from the Lowell Technological Institute and completed the highway safety and traffic study program at Northwestern University.
Nathaniel Beuse directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Crash Avoidance Standards, where he is responsible for leading the development and promulgation of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, voluntary industry actions, and consumer information programs related to vehicle dynamics, vehicle stability and control, and rollover. He holds both a BS in biomedical engineering and a masters degree in mechanical engineering from Marquette University.
Donald C. Bridge, Jr., a Lieutenant with the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, is the Commanding Officer for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Division’s Motor Carrier Unit. He also coordinates the state’s Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program. Lt. Bridge is active in the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and is certified for driver–vehicle, general hazardous materials, cargo tank, other bulk package, and motorcoach inspections. He is also a certified police academy instructor and has testified as an expert witness in both state and Federal courts. He is a graduate of the Connecticut Police Academy.
John F. Cannon, P.E., is the vice president–engineering at Walker Group Holdings, LLC/Brenner Tank LLC/Brenner Tank Inc., in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He has worked for the company since 1988, initially as design engineer and chief engineer, and was responsible for the design and code compliance of all cargo tanks and for setting corporate design standards for all equipment. Mr. Cannon received both a BS in mechanical engineering and an MS in engineering management from the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He is a registered Professional Engineer and is currently director of the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association.
Richard Conklin has been with Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems for 16 years. He is currently a product manager for power unit stability systems and future braking system architecture. He has also worked in product development engineering for multiple product areas and in engineering management. Mr. Conklin earned a BSME from the University of Akron and holds five U.S. patents. He is actively involved in SAE and the American Trucking Association’s Technology & Maintenance Council.
Gregg A. Freeby, P.E., has worked for the Texas Department of Transportation since 1987. He is currently a bridge design group leader and has designed a wide range of bridge, culvert, railroad, and highway structures. He was the lead engineer for the state’s implementation of the AASHTO LRFD bridge design specifications and project director for the state-pooled fund study, TPF-5(106), Guidelines for Designing Bridge Piers and Abutments for Vehicle Collisions. Mr. Freeby holds a BS in civil engineering from Texas A&M University and is a registered Professional Engineer.
Charles H. Hochman is the director of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s Office of Hazardous Materials Technology. Since 1980, he held various positions within the Office of Hazardous Materials Technology and predecessor organizations. He holds a bachelor of engineering degree from Stevens Institute of Technology and an MBA from American University.
Alexander Jirau has driven commercial motor vehicles for 12 years and spent approximately 10 years as an operator of a 10,000-gallon fuel truck delivering petroleum products in the Baltimore Washington metropolitan area. He has delivered 70 million verifiable gallons of petroleum products safely. Mr. Jirau is a certified instructor of the National Safety Council’s Defensive Driving Course for professional truck drivers; certified by the State of Maryland as a motor vehicle state examiner; and a commercial motor vehicle range instructor, road instructor and classroom instructor. He currently teaches commercial vehicle safety procedures to sixty students daily at Allstate Career and Driving Institute.
Hari Kalla, P.E., works for the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Operations. He is currently team leader for the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, responsible for leading the development of standards and implementation guidance for traffic control devices on all U.S. roads open to public travel. Mr. Kalla holds a bachelor of engineering from the University of Jodhpur (India) and an MSCE from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is a registered professional engineer.
Timothy J. Keller, P.E., is the state bridge engineer for the Ohio Department of Transportation. He has also worked as a bridge engineer and project manager for URS Corporation and Burgess & Niple Limited. Mr. Keller holds a BSCE from the University of Cincinnati. He is a registered Professional Engineer and is active in the American Institute of Steel Construction and the Society for Protective Coatings.
Alan Korn began working with Rockwell WABCO (now Meritor WABCO) in 1990 as engineering manager. He was promoted to chief engineer and later became director of the vehicle dynamics and control business segment, where he is responsible for pneumatic and hydraulic antilock brake systems, stability control, and driver assistance systems. Earlier in his career, he was with Kelsey Hayes Company, Lucas Girling, and Rockwell International. Mr. Korn holds a BSME from Lawrence Institute of Technology. He is active in SAE and the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association Heavy Duty Brake Manufacturers Council.
M. Myint Lwin, P.E., is the director of the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Bridge Technology. He holds a BS in civil engineering from the University of Rangoon (Burma) and an MS in civil engineering from the University of Washington. Mr. Lwin is a registered Professional Engineer.
Dr. Hugh W. McGee, Sr., P.E., is the principal traffic safety engineer with Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. He is a recognized expert in highway design, traffic engineering, traffic safety, transportation planning, traffic operations and safety improvement, and traffic control device design. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and is currently on the International Board of Directors of the Institute of Transportation Engineers. Dr. McGee holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in civil engineering from Pennsylvania State University. He is a registered Professional Engineer.
John Nicholas, as a truck size and weight program manager for the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Freight Management and Operations, is responsible for the collection and review of state annual size and weight enforcement plans and weight certifications as required by Federal law. Prior to recently joining the Federal government, Mr. Nicholas was with the Washington State Patrol, working in commercial vehicle enforcement. He holds a BS in political science from the University of Washington.
Steven L. Niswander is currently vice president of safety policy and regulatory relations at Groendyke Transport, Enid, Oklahoma. He has been recognized as the American Trucking Associations safety professional of the year (2006) and the National Tank Truck Carriers safety professional of the year (1990, 1991, 1999, 2000). Mr. Niswander received a BS in business management and economics from Phillips University.
Michael O’Connell is executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association. He also has served as general counsel to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, the Professional Truck Driver Institute, and the Owner–Operator Independent Drivers Association. In addition, he worked as a senior policy analyst for the U.S. Department of Transportation. Mr. O’Connell holds a masters degree in political science and a masters in public administration, both from the University of West Florida. He received a JD from the Catholic University of America.
Douglas Pape, P.E., has been with Battelle for more than 25 years, studying vehicle dynamics and highway safety. He has led research projects on rollover prevention and rollover crashworthiness. Mr. Pape holds degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Ohio State University. He is a registered Professional Engineer.
Randy Petresh is vice president of technical services with Haldex Commercial Vehicle Systems Inc., Kansas City, Missouri, where he leads field service operations, warranty administration, product liability, and engineering services. In a 35-year career in the heavy duty/commercial vehicle industry, he has also worked with Borg Warner, Eaton Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Rockwell International, and Bendix. Mr. Petresh holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Lawrence Institute of Technology and both a masters in mechanical engineering and an MBA from the University of Michigan.
Mike Pitts is vice president of sales at Mississippi Tank Company, having moved from engineering, to operations, to sales and marketing. He has designed a variety of MC-331 cargo tank motor vehicles for transporting compressed gas products. He served on the National Propane Gas Association’s Transportation Safety and Standards Committee for 20 years and is now a member of the association’s board of directors. Mr. Pitts is also chairman of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Section XII Committee Subgroup on Fabrication, Inspection, and Continued Service.
Anne M. Rearick, P.E., is the director of bridge design, inspection, hydraulics, and technical support for the Indiana Department of Transportation. Ms. Rearick is currently a primary member on the AASHTO Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures. She holds a BSCE from Purdue University.
James O. Simmons is the chief of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Hazardous Materials Division. In his 15-year career with the U.S. Department of Transportation, he has worked in all areas of hazardous materials transportation, including safety and state and Federal programs. Mr. Simmons holds a BS in physics.
David B. Sonnemann manages transportation regulations and fleet safety for Praxair, Inc., Danbury, Connecticut. Since 1996, he has served as a Compressed Gas Association delegate to the United Nations Subcommittee on Transportation of Dangerous Goods, and he has led the delegations since 2002. He is also actively involved with the American Chemistry Council, the National Tank Truck Carriers, and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s Cooperative Hazardous Materials Enforcement Development Program. Mr. Sonnemann holds a bachelors degree in chemical engineering from Bucknell University.
Brooke Struve, P.E., is the design program manager in the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Infrastructure. She received a BS in civil engineering from Brigham Young University. Ms. Struve is a registered Professional Engineer and a certified project management professional.
Neil R. Voorhees is the director of safety and security for Trimac Transportation, Houston, Texas, which recently received the Gold Safety Excellence award from Dow Chemical Company. He is a specialist in hazardous materials emergency response and is an instructor at the University of Houston logistics seminars. Mr. Voorhees is actively involved with the National Tank Truck Carriers Association and serves on the American Trucking Associations’ Hazardous Materials Committee, Security Committee, and Safety and Loss Prevention Management Council.
Montague R. Ward, Jr., P.E., has had a distinguished career in the design of ships, cargo handling equipment, and marine structures. For 25 years, he served as the president and chief engineer of RTL Inc., where he directed the design of pressure vessels, particularly cargo tanks for truck transportation. Mr. Ward worked on the cargo tank design code committee, under the sponsorship of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the U.S. Department of Transportation. He has also served as the technical manager for the Cargo Tank Manufacturers Association. Mr. Ward received an SB in naval architecture and marine engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MSCE from California State University. He is a registered Professional Engineer.
