President Trump subsequently nominated Sumwalt to be NTSB chairman, and in August 2017, the U.S. Senate confirmed Sumwalt to be NTSB's 14th chairman. In 2019, President Trump again nominated him for Chairman of the NTSB. He was reconfirmed by the U.S. Senate in July 2019 for a three-year term as Chairman. He succeeded Christopher A. Hart in this role. While on the board, he was an advocate for improving safety in all modes of transportation, including teen-driver safety, impaired driving, distractions in transportation, and several rail-safety initiatives. In 2018 while discussing Air Canada Flight 759, Sumwalt described NOTAMs as "a bunch of garbage that nobody pays any attention to". This led to an initiative to reform the NOTAM system. Sumwalt retired from chairmanship and membership of NTSB on June 30, 2021. In addition to his current role with Embry-Riddle, Sumwalt is a safety analyst with CBS News and volunteer board member of the Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure. Honors In recognition of his contributions to the aviation industry, in September 2021, Sumwalt was awarded the Flight Safety Foundation - Boeing Aviation Safety Lifetime Achievement Award. He also received the Flight Safety Foundation's Laura Taber Barbour Award in 2003 and ALPA's Air Safety Award in 2005. He is a 2009 inductee into the South Carolina Aviation Hall of Fame. In recognition of his accomplishments, Sumwalt was awarded an honorary Doctor in Science degree from the University of South Carolina and an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Publications See also List of Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University alumni List of University of South Carolina people List of University of Southern California people References External links Biography at National Transportation Safety Board 1950s births 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American aviators American aviation writers American male non-fiction writers Aviation safety Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University alumni George W. Bush administration personnel Living people Obama administration personnel University of South Carolina alumni University of Southern California faculty US Airways Group Commercial aviators Trump administration personnel 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers