Deputy Director

Meet the Deputy Director

Mary N. Whigham Jones
Deputy Director, Departmental Office of Civil Rights
Office of the Secretary, U. S. Department of Transportation
Washington, DC 20590
 

As Deputy Director, Ms. Jones provides senior civil rights leadership and support for all Department of Transportation (DOT) programs and activities.  She provides civil rights policy guidance and oversight to the DOT operating administrations and secretarial offices on civil rights programs.

Previously, Ms. Jones served as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Civil Rights at the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Office of Civil Rights.  There she provided senior leadership, policy direction, and technical assistance for internal and external civil rights programs, including FAA’s signature initiative to create and maintain a model work environment.

Ms. Jones began her Federal career with the FAA’s Office of Chief Counsel where she served in several capacities.  As an attorney advisor in the Enforcement & Regulations Division, she had responsibility for rulemaking projects and handled aviation safety related enforcement actions against airmen and aviation entities before the National Transportation Safety Board.  Further, Ms. Jones served as legal advisor/trial attorney, and later manager, in the Personnel & Labor Law Branch where she was responsible for employment litigation matters before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Merit System Protection Board, the various Federal district courts, as well as appellate matters before the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  Ms. Jones regularly served as the Acting Assistant Chief Counsel, General Legal Services Division where her responsibilities included employment law, government ethics, FOIA, and Privacy Act matters.

Ms. Jones, a 2010 recipient of the Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award, received her Juris Doctor degree from Temple University School of Law and Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Tuskegee Institute (now University).  Further, she completed Executive Programs at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.  Ms. Jones is a member of the Pennsylvania and District of Columbia bars.