Brigham McCown
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Brigham A. McCown | |
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![]() Brigham A. McCown | |
Born | July 3, 1966 | (age 55)
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service/ | ![]() ![]() |
Years of service | 1984–2013 |
Rank | ![]() ![]() |
Battles/wars | Cold War, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Uphold Democracy, Operation Unified Assistance |
Alma mater | College of William and Mary Miami University Northern Kentucky University Stanford University |
Other work | ![]()
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Brigham A. McCown (born July 3, 1966 in Ironton, Ohio) is a former member of the U.S. Senior Executive Service at the United States Department of Transportation. He served as chief executive of (2020-2022) the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company which designed, built, operates, and maintains the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.[1] Following retirement from federal service, he worked as an attorney, consultant, and was a Clinical Professor at Miami University.[2][3][4]
Early life and education[]
An 8th generation American of Scot-Irish descent, McCown's ancestors first immigrated to Augusta County Virginia in 1740. He is a relative of John Porter McCown a former U.S. Army Officer and Confederate General (3rd cousins thrice removed) for whom the thick-billed longspur was formerly named (as the McCown's longspur) and Major General Hal David McCown (5th cousins once removed).
McCown grew up in rural southern Ohio, graduating from Ironton High School in 1984. Thereafter, he attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, a prestigious "public ivy" long known for producing some of the country's elite including former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. He graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in diplomacy and foreign affairs.
In 1997, he obtained a Juris Doctor degree from Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law. In 2015, he earned a graduate certificate from Stanford University in Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies and an MBA from the College of William and Mary.
Career[]
McCown served as an advisor to the 2016 presidential transition as a core member of the president-elect Donald Trump's infrastructure policy and agency action teams. He then served as a senior advisor to Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao (R-KY) during her initial days in office while declining a permanent appointment but used the time to raise concerns regarding aging infrastructure.
Until 2007 McCown served in several leadership roles during both terms of George W. Bush's presidency in Washington D.C. Appointed initially to the U.S. Senior Executive Service by Democratic Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, (D-CA)[5] he was later reappointed by Republican Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, (R-AZ). McCown initially worked as the first chief counsel (general counsel) of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), where he was responsible for legal oversight of the nation's trucking, motor coach, moving industry[6] and NAFTA.[7] During this time, He advocated for stronger truck and bus safety regulations, including better oversight of the commercial bus industry and the requirement for all buses to be equipped with seat belts.[8][9]
Mineta then appointed McCown to become the first acting administrator / CEO and first deputy administrator / COO of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). During his tenure he was responsible for oversight of over one million daily shipments of hazardous materials by land, sea, and air including the nation's 2.6 million miles of pipelines. McCown was instrumental in restoring national critical infrastructure following hurricane Katrina and Rita and received the department's highest award (Gold Medal) for his actions while operating under a secretarial designation. He also oversaw the government's initial response to the largest oil spill on Alaska's North Slope and implemented the one call damage prevention program known as "811".[10] While serving as the country's chief energy transportation regulator, McCown was first to raise concerns over the country's aging pipeline infrastructure network but was also avid in his support of pipelines over other transport methods. He has continued to advance safety and has called for tougher standards following gas pipeline incidents in San Bruno, California and Dallas, Texas. He was also one of the first experts to call for the phasing out older rail cars transporting crude oil known as DOT-111 tank cars.
From 1988 to 1998 McCown served on active duty as a U.S. naval officer and as a naval aviator[11] and participated in worldwide deployments including Operation Desert Storm and Operation Uphold Democracy. From 1998 until his retirement in 2013, McCown served as a member of the ready reserve force with active duty assignments in Europe, Africa, and Asia including Operation Unified Assistance.
Since retiring from federal service, McCown served as the Chairman and CEO of Nouveau[12] a consulting and advisory firm and served on the Southlake, Texas Planning & Zoning Commission where he notably voted against a new natural gas pipeline within the city's limits.[13] Served on several boards including as a member and vice chair (regulatory and legal subcommittee) of the federal government's Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee, a member of the Salmon P. Chase College of Law's Board of Visitors, Co-Chair of the American Bar Association's Transportation Committee of the Administrative and Regulatory Law Section,[14] a Program Council Member for the Warsaw Security Forum,[15] a member of Europe's Pipeline Technology Conference safety advisory committee, board member of Aii.org,[16] and a Fellow of the American Bar Association Foundation, a global honorary society of attorneys, judges, law faculty, and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession and to the welfare of their communities.
Bibliography[]
Brigham McCown Named President of Alyeska Pipeline [17]
Pipeline Safety Moving Ahead[20]
PODCAST: Brigham McCown[21]
References[]
- ^ "Alyeska - 2011". www.alyeska-pipe.com. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-12-15.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Brigham A. McCown - Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure". aii.org.
- ^ "Directory - Miami University". miamioh.edu. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
- ^ http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_EF9F7C268404EB5596E46F59F2F3B3DF86320900/filename/PHMSAFocusFall05.pdf[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Tonight's facts". Edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ "U.S. Department of Transportation Sets Aggressive New Fuel Economy Targets". Martindale.com. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ "Tonight's facts". Us.cnn.com. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ "Barriers for Mexican trucks questioned". Azcentral.com. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ "Call 811".
- ^ "Public Navy Records". Archived from the original on 2016-10-11.
- ^ http://www.nouveaucorp.com
- ^ "Southlake, TX - Official Website". Cityofsouthlake.com. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ "Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice: Transportation Committee". Archived from the original on 2014-04-09.
- ^ "Archived Document". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-12-15.
- ^ "Home". Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
- ^ "Brigham McCown Named President of Alyeska Pipeline". Alaska Business Magazine. 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
- ^ "Forbes » Contributor Profile » Brigham A. McCown". Blogs.forbes.com. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ "Brigham A. McCown - Brigham McCown". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
- ^ "Pipeline Safety Moving Ahead | RealClearEnergy". www.realclearenergy.org. 25 October 2019. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
- ^ "PODCAST: Brigham McCown, founder and chairman of the Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure". www.afpm.org. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
External links[]
- Living people
- 1966 births
- People from Ironton, Ohio
- Miami University alumni
- Northern Kentucky University alumni
- United States Navy officers
- United States Department of Transportation officials
- Kentucky lawyers
- Florida lawyers
- Texas lawyers
- George W. Bush administration personnel