Deborah Hersman Biography

Deborah A.P. Hersman is a former board member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board who served as its 12th Chairman. She completed two terms as Chairman and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 16, 2013 for a third term. On March 11, 2014, she announced she would join the National Safety Council as its president and CEO.

Personal life

She is the eldest daughter of retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Walter C Hersman, who served as a fighter pilot and test pilot. She has two sisters. She was raised in West Virginia and lived with her family in places such as Amman, Jordan, and Madrid, Spain. She also attended Hahn High School in West Germany. By the time she turned 17, the Hersmans had settled in Northern Virginia where she attended Chantilly High School. She was a student pilot and soloed but did not complete her training. She holds a commercial driver license (with passenger, school bus, and air brake endorsements) and a motorcycle endorsement.

In 1992, she earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and International Studies from Virginia Tech. In 1999, she earned an M.S. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University. Hersman is married to a former Virginia Tech classmate, Niel Plummer, a software engineer for Lockheed Martin. They have three sons.

Career

She began her government career on the staff of West Virginia Congressman Bob Wise as an unpaid intern during the summer of her sophomore year at Virginia Tech. She rose from intern to office manager and then to senior legislative aide. While working for Wise, Hersman dealt with a series of coal train derailments near Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Wise said, "She has a backbone. Don't ever think that you are ever going to push her over."

In 1999, she left Wise's office to join the staff of the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

In 2004, Hersman was appointed as a board member of the NTSB by President George W. Bush. In 2009, President Barack Obama reappointed her to a second five-year term and appointed her to a two-year term as chairman, making her, at age 39, the youngest person ever to fill that position. President Obama reappointed Hersman as chairman in 2011, and in August 2013, he nominated her for a third term as Chairman and for a third term as a Board Member. Pending Senate confirmation, the President designated Hersman to serve as Vice Chairman, making her Acting Chairman of the NTSB. Her nomination was confirmed by voice vote on October 16, 2013.

As a Board member, Hersman traveled with NTSB teams investigating major accidents ranging from the collision of two Washington Metro trains to the mid-air collision of a sightseeing helicopter and single-engine airplane over the Hudson River in New York City.