Peter V. Neffenger

Vice Admiral Peter Neffenger was appointed in 2015 by President Obama to lead the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a position he held until January 2017. Prior to this he enjoyed a distinguished 34- year career in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he served as the 29th Vice Commandant, the head of Coast Guard global operations, and most notably as the Deputy National Incident Commander for the 2010 BP oil spill, the largest and most complex in U.S. history. He is a recognized expert in national security, organizational transformation, and in crisis leadership and management. His transformation of the TSA led to his being named one of the 25 most influential business travel executives of 2016 by Business Travel News.

He is President of Neffenger Consulting, LLC, an independent consulting firm; is Chairman of the U.S. Board of Directors for Smartmatic Corporation, the world’s largest election security technology company, in addition to holding positions on other corporate and advisory boards; is a member of Baldwin Wallace University Board of Trustees; holds an MPA from Harvard University; an MA in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College; an MA in Business Management from Central Michigan University, and a BA from Baldwin Wallace University. He is a two-time recipient of the Department of Homeland Security’s Distinguished Service Medal and is a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Distinguished Fellow at Northeastern University’s Global Resilience Institute, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow and Instructor at the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative at Harvard University.