Former Assistant Administrator, Office of Security Operations. U.S. Transportation Security Administration

Former Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, U.S. Transportation Security Administration

Mr. Mo McGowan recently joined the private sector after a long and distinguished career as a local law enforcement officer, corporate security manager, and senior federal leader. Mr. McGowan is uniquely qualified in his approach to the security and risk management field because of his multi-disciplined and experienced background. During his career Mr. McGowan has received numerous awards and recognition for his dedicated service.

Most recently, Mr. McGowan served from 2002 to 2009 in the Senior Executive Service at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), where he worked in capacities at headquarters and in the field. Mr. McGowan’s career with TSA culminated in being named Assistant Administrator for the Office of Security Operations. In this role he was responsible for the largest non-military workforce in the U.S. Government in excess of 53,000 personnel. As the primary operations officer for the organization, Mr. McGowan was responsible for securing all transportation modes with emphasis on the aviation sector. His daily operational responsibilities included the screening of 2 million commercial air passengers a day, federally administered compliance/inspection programs, strategic planning, ensuring robust operational performance for all field units, developing a performance based metrics program to track effectiveness and efficiency of his organization, all technical training for the workforce, enhancing all programs within operations and managing a budget in excess of $3.7 billion. Mr. McGowan was intimately involved in reshaping his workforce as one of the primary architects of the evolutionary program that changed the culture and security posture of TSA’s uniformed officers. Mr. McGowan was also one of the key executives responsible for the operational response to the August, 2006 liquid explosives terrorist plot conducted in the UK, which changed the security posture of TSA literally overnight. While at TSA, Mr. McGowan also served as Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, General Manager for Cargo and Supply Chain Security, and in several senior field assignments. Mr. McGowan has been officially recognized as a “Plank Holder” for being one of the founding fathers of TSA.

Prior to federal service, Mr. McGowan served as Manager for the Systems Integrity Group of MCI. In this position he was responsible for not only securing the network for his employer but also the top customer base of the company. While at MCI, Mr. McGowan was awarded the “Ring of Champions” award given to the top 1% of network MCI employees and the Hero Award.

Mr. McGowan retired from municipal policing at the command level after serving 25 years with the Richardson, Texas Police Department. He served in virtually every bureau during his career and received numerous citations and commendations while with the Department.