President Biden Announces His Intent to Nominate Key Members for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Labor, Department of Energy, and Department of Transportation

WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Matt Quinn for Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs, Doug Parker for Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, Department of Labor, Ali Nouri for Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs, Department of Energy, and Nuria Fernandez for Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, Department of Transportation.

Major General (Retired) Matthew Quinn served nearly 37 years in our US Army and Army National Guard, culminating in his selection as the 27th Adjutant General for the State of Montana. He is a veteran of Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom, commanding Soldiers at the company and battalion level. Prior to selection as the Adjutant General, Quinn was the President of ELM Locating and Utility Services, while serving in the Montana National Guard as a traditional (Drill status) Guardsman. Like all National Guard and Reserve women and men who serve, he carefully balanced his family, military and civilian careers.

MG (Ret) Quinn has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering degree from Montana State University, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Montana, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the US Army War College. Quinn is married to Jody Quinn and they are the proud parents of five children, Jon, Braeden, Maddi, Kailyn, and Megan ranging in age from 32 to 18. They enjoy everything that Montana has to offer in the great outdoors while spending time with family.

Douglas L. Parker of San Francisco, California, previously served in the Obama Administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy in the Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration, and was a member of the Biden-Harris transition team focused on worker health and safety issues. He also held positions as a senior policy advisor and special assistant at the Department of Labor. He currently serves as chief of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), a position he has held since 2019. Prior to his appointment to Cal/OSHA, Parker was executive director of Worksafe, an Oakland, California-based legal services provider.

Before serving in the Obama Administration, Parker was a partner at the law firm Mooney, Green, Saindon, Murphy and Welch, in Washington, DC. He began his legal career as a staff attorney at the United Mine Workers of America. Prior to law school, Parker worked in the private sector as a sales and marketing director, in communications for the Democratic National Committee, and was a staff assistant for the late Senator Paul Wellstone. Parker earned a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and a B.A. in history from James Madison University. He is married and has two daughters. Parker is originally from Bluefield, West Virginia, and grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Ali Nouri, PhD joined the Administration in January and was serving as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department of Energy’s Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. Previously, he was the President of the Federation of American Scientists, a public policy organization focused on countering WMDs, addressing emerging infectious diseases, and crafting solutions to energy and innovation challenges. Under his leadership, the organization also tackled science denialism and COVID-19 misinformation by providing timely, science-based information to policy makers and to the public.

Previously, Nouri served as an advisor in the US Senate for nearly a decade, including 6 years for a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. During his time in the Senate he served in various positions including as an Energy and Environment Advisor, a National Security Advisor, and as a Legislative Director. Prior to that, Nouri served as an advisor to the office of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan where he developed initiatives to block biotechnology from being used to produce biological weapons. He earned a BA in biology from Reed College and a PhD in molecular biology from Princeton University. He resides in Washington DC with his wife, Logan Gibson, and their two sons.

Nuria Fernandez was appointed as the Deputy Administrator and senior official of the Federal Transit Administration on January 20, 2021. With more than 35 years of experience, Fernandez has made a name for herself as an inspiring leader in the transportation industry. She comes to FTA after serving as the General Manager and CEO of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), delivering projects, programs, and transit services that provide mobility solutions for more than two million people who live and work in Silicon Valley.

Prior to leading VTA, Fernandez held leadership positions at some of the busiest transit agencies in America, including Chief Operating Officer of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Sr. Vice President of Design and Construction for the Chicago Transit Authority and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, consecutively. She also served as Commissioner for the Chicago Department of Aviation, overseeing O’Hare and Midway Airports. Fernandez is the immediate past Chair of the American Public Transportation Association, and served on the boards of the Mineta Transportation Institute, The Transportation Learning Center and on the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board.

Nuria Fernandez was born and raised in Panama City, Panama. She holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and an M.B.A. from Roosevelt University in Chicago.