President Biden said on August 31 that he plans to make 26 appointments to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC), which advises the White House on ways to reduce physical and cyber risks and improve the security and resilience of the nation’s critical infrastructure sectors.
The NIAC – established in 2001 – has advised the White House over the past two decades on a range of security issues including improving intelligence information sharing across government and industry; identifying and reducing complex cyber risks; and better preparing for and responding to disruptions that can ripple across multiple infrastructure systems.
In announcing the new NIAC appointments, the White House said that one of its priorities is delivering unprecedented infrastructure investments in all 50 states and territories “to build a better America that delivers for all communities,” the White House noted in a statement.
“The individuals announced today are leading senior executives with deep experience across a broad range of sectors including banking and finance, transportation, energy, water, dams, defense, communications, information technology, healthcare services, food and agriculture, government facilities, emergency services, and higher education,” the White House stated.
Among the 26 planned NIAC appointments are:
As NIAC chair, Adebayo O. Ogunlesi, who currently serves as chairman and CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners, an industry-leading, independent asset manager focused on infrastructure;
As vice chair, Maria Lehman, who leads the U.S. infrastructure business at GHD;
The Honorable Christine Fox, who is a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory;
Beverly Scott, who headed public transit system operations in Boston, Atlanta, Sacramento, and Rhode Island;
Sadek Wahba, who is chairman and managing partner of infrastructure investment firm I Squared Capital; and
Robert Work, who was deputy secretary of Defense from 2014 to 2017.
A complete list of President Biden’s planned appointments is here.
