Will Leave Agency At End Of May
Aero-News has learned
that National Transportation Safety Board member Ellen Engleman
Conners, who served two years as the agency's Chairman, announced
this week that she intends to leave the Safety Board on May 31.
"With great humility and thankfulness, I tender my resignation
as a Member of the National Transportation Safety Board effective
May 31, 2006," Engleman Conners wrote in her April 17 letter of
resignation to President George W. Bush. "I wish to thank you for
your inspirational leadership and your patient devotion to our
country during this most severe challenge to our freedoms. It has
been a great privilege to serve in three positions in your
administration. Your vision for America has been my guide."
Engleman Conners joined the Safety Board on March 24, 2003, when
she began a two-year term as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
of the agency. Since the expiration of her Chairmanship in March
2005, she has served as a Member of the NTSB. Her term as Member
expires on December 31, 2007.
Last December, Engleman Conners also asked President Bush
to withdraw his recommendation of her for a second term as NTSB
Chairman, citing her intent to focus on continuing to
serve as a Member of the Safety Board.
The NTSB stated Tuesday that during her chairmanship, Engleman
Conners successfully focused on reducing the number of open or
non-implemented NTSB safety recommendations to the lowest number
since 1975. She was also the recipient of the 2004 Harrison Award
for Public Service, from the Columbia Club of Indianapolis, IN and
the National Business Travel Association Founder's Award in
2005.
Engleman Conners also
served as the member on scene for numerous accidents, including the
Staten Island Ferry accident in 2003, the Baltimore water taxi
capsizing in 2004, and most recently the Southwest Airlines runway
overrun in Chicago last December. She represented the agency in
national media and before Congress.
Before joining the NTSB, Engleman Conners served as the
Administrator of the Research and Special Programs Administration
at the U.S. Department of Transportation.
During her tenure at the NTSB, Engleman Conners was responsible
for the Office of Emergency Transportation during September 11, for
which she received the Secretary of Transportation's 9-11
Distinguished Service Medal and oversaw the design of the new
Crisis Communication Management Center. She also co-chaired the
transfer of the U.S. Coast Guard to the new Department of Homeland
Security, for which she was the recipient of the US Coast Guard
Distinguished Public Service Award, its highest non-life-saving
medal.
Engleman Conners earned both a bachelor's and a Juris Doctor
degree from Indiana University, and has a Masters in Public
Administration from Harvard University. She is also an officer in
the US Navy Reserve.