Deborah A. P. Hersman, Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), is the featured speaker at the Chairman’s Luncheon of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) 90th Annual Meeting being held Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Hersman is expected to share her perspective on transportation safety for all modes.
Deborah A. P. Hersman is the twelfth Chairman of the NTSB, an independent federal agency charged with determining the probable cause of transportation accidents, promoting safety, and assisting victims of transportation accidents and their families.

Hersman is currently serving a two-year term as NTSB chairman, until July 2011, and a five-year term as board member, through December 2013. She has been a Member of the NTSB since 2004. During her tenure, she has been the member on the scene of more than 19 major transportation accidents and has chaired a number of public events hosted by the board.

To fulfill its mission, the NTSB investigates accidents and incidents and conducts safety studies. To help prevent accidents, the NTSB issues safety recommendations to federal, state and local government agencies, as well as to industry and other organizations in a position to improve transportation safety.

Before coming to the NTSB, Hersman served as a senior professional staff member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation from 1999 to 2004. Earlier in her career, she was staff director to Congressman Bob Wise of West Virginia.

During her service at the Senate, Hersman was a key staff member involved in the 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 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 other transportation measures.

More than 10,000 policy makers, administrators, practitioners, researchers and representatives of government; industry; and academic institutions are expected to attend the TRB's 90th Annual Meeting, in Washington, D.C., January 23 to 27. The meeting includes more than 4,000 presentations in 650 sessions and workshops covering all aspects of transportation.

The mission of the TRB is to provide leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisciplinary and multimodal.

A major focal point of TRB's activities, the Annual Meeting provides an opportunity for transportation professionals from all over the world to exchange information of common interest.