Biography provided by participant
Secretary Norman Y. Mineta is Vice Chairman of Hill & Knowlton based in its Washington, DC office. Mineta’s career in public service has been both distinguished and unique, having served in Congress and the Cabinet of both Republican and Democratic presidents.
For almost 30 years, Mineta represented San Jose, California – the heart of Silicon Valley – first on the City Council, then as Mayor, and then from 1975 to 1995 as a Member of Congress. Mineta served as the Chairman of the House Transportation and Public Works Committee from 1992 to 1994, after having chaired the Subcommittee on Aviation and the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation. He was the primary author of the groundbreaking Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991.
In 2000, Mineta was appointed by President Bill Clinton as the United States Secretary of Commerce. Mineta was appointed Secretary of Transportation by President George W. Bush in 2001, where he served until he joined Hill & Knowlton in July 2006. Following the horrific terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, Mineta guided the creation of the Transportation Security Administration, the largest mobilization of a new federal agency since World War II.
Mineta was also a Vice President of Lockheed Martin where he oversaw the first successful implementation of the EZ-Pass system in New York State.
Mineta has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom – our nation’s highest civilian honor – and the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, which is awarded for significant public service of enduring value to aviation in the United States. He is also the recipient of the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun.
He was the co-founder of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and Chair of the National Civil Aviation Review Commission. He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.
Mineta is married to Danealia (Deni) Mineta and has two sons, David K. Mineta and Stuart S. Mineta, and two step-sons, Robert M. Brantner and Mark Brantner.
