Currently acting as the Chief of Performance and Enterprise Risk, John Sammon is responsible for developing and driving the long-range strategic vision and objectives for TSA with respect to risk-based security and risk management actives. Sammon also leads TSA’s goal to encompass enterprise risk management across all areas of the Agency.
Prior to this position, Sammon served as the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Policy and Industry Engagement, where he was responsible for engaging transportation industry partners in the development of security policy.
Over his ten-year career at TSA, Sammon has led sustainable risk-mitigation efforts for terrorist plots, including the liquids plot, underwear bomb plots, and the air cargo plots. He implemented risk-reduction programs including air cargo screening, freight rail toxic chemical shipment risk reduction, NYC mass transit passenger screening, risk-based transit security grants, and outcome-based security regulations. Sammon oversaw the development of numerous risk reduction and performance improvement tools. He also led TSA/Industry Strategic Partnerships with aviation, surface, and travel industry stakeholders. As TSA’s Chief Marketing Officer he increased TSA PreCheck enrollments by leveraging key travel industry channels to reach target market customer base. Sammon has testified before a dozen Congressional Oversight Committees, and he was awarded the DHS Secretary’s “Award for Excellence.”
Before joining TSA in 2006, Sammon served as a member of Senior Management leadership teams at both Conrail and CSX where as Business Unit SVP, he was responsible for bottomline P & L results. Sammon has a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Bucknell University and a Masters of Science degree in economics from Texas A&M University.