The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has returned to the full slate of five board members with the additions of Alvin Brown and J. Todd Inman. Both confirmed by the Senate on March 8, Brown stepped into a position that has been vacant since former chair Robert Sumwalt stepped down in 2021, while Inman succeeded Bruce Landsberg, whose term expired last year.
To serve through 2026, Brown was originally nominated to the post in 2022 but—after the Senate failed to act—was renominated last year. He brings to the board a lengthy background in urban and community affairs, most recently as senior advisor for community infrastructure opportunities for the U.S. Department of Transportation. The first African American to be elected mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, Brown served with the White House leadership team under former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore and served as senior advisor for urban policy and vice chair of the White House Community Empowerment Board, leading $4 billion in community initiatives. He also was a senior advisor to the late commerce secretary Ron Brown, executive director of the Bush/Clinton Katrina Interfaith Fund, and executive in residence at Jacksonville University’s Davis School of Business.
Inman, who serves a term extending through 2027, joins the NTSB after serving as a senior director with the consultancy APCO Worldwide. He also has served as secretary of the Florida Department of Management Services and was chief of staff for former transportation secretary Elaine Chao. Inman further has a background as an independent contractor agent for State Farm Insurance Companies, in the special investigative unit for State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, and as an instructor for the National Fire Academy regional delivery program of arson detection for first responders.
Brown and Inman joined a slate of NTSB board members that also includes chair Jennifer Homendy, along with Michael Graham and Tom Chapman.
“I am pleased to have Alvin and Todd join our board and share their depth of experience in pursuing our mission of keeping people safe in every mode of transportation,” Homendy said.