Mark Rosekind
Dr. Mark R. Rosekind was sworn in as the 15th administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on December 22, 2014. He was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Administrator Rosekind is a passionate safety professional dedicated to enhancing transportation safety for the traveling public. In his role as administrator, Rosekind is pursuing NHTSA’s core safety mission of saving lives, preventing injuries, and reducing crashes through all of the tools available to the agency—including public awareness campaigns, technical innovation, research into human behavior, and enforcement authority.
Before becoming NHTSA administrator, Rosekind served as the 40th member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) from 2010 to 2014. He was nominated to NTSB by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He was the on-scene board member for seven major transportation accidents and participated in almost 50 accident board meetings, along with numerous NTSB public events on diverse safety topics. Rosekind advanced the agency’s advocacy goals on substance-impaired driving, fatigue, fire safety, and rail mass transit.
Administrator Rosekind is an internationally recognized expert on human fatigue, credited with leading the field in innovative research and implementing programs in all modes of transportation. His work has been widely published, and his awards include NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal and six other NASA group/team awards; the Mark O. Hatfield Award for Public Policy from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine; two Flight Safety Foundation honors: the President’s Citation for Outstanding Safety Leadership and the Business Aviation Meritorious Service Award; and Fellow of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Prior to his appointment to NTSB, Rosekind founded Alertness Solutions, a scientific consulting firm that specialized in fatigue management, and served as the company’s first president and chief scientist. He previously directed the Fatigue Countermeasures Program at NASA’s Ames Research Center and was chief of the Aviation Operations Branch in the Flight Management and Human Factors Division. He launched his professional career as the director of the Center for Human Sleep Research at the Stanford University Sleep Disorders and Research Center.
Administrator Rosekind earned his AB with honors from Stanford University; his MS, MPhil, and PhD from Yale University; and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Brown University Medical School.
Rosekind is married and has two children.
