Howard R. "Skip" Elliott is an American government official who served as the

Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

from 2017 to 2021. From May 2020 to January 2021, Elliott had been Acting Inspector General of the Department of Transportation. His appointment was considered notable for the fact that Elliott was head of an office that was investigating his own actions. Elliott left both positions on January 20, 2021.

Education

Elliot earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and forensic science from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

. He received the first ever Distinguished Alumni Award from Indiana University's Department of Criminal Justice. Elliott is a member of the Indiana University College of Arts and Sciences Executive Dean's Advisory Committee. He later earned a Master's degree from

Columbia Southern University Columbia Southern University is a private for-profit online university based in Orange Beach, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1993 and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and Distan ...

Career

Prior to assuming his role as Administrator, Elliott had a 40-year career in the U.S. freight rail industry, beginning as a railroad police officer in

Elkhart, Indiana Elkhart ( ) is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The population was 53,923 at the 2020 census. The city is located east of South Bend, Indiana. It is the most populous city in the Elkhart–Goshen metropolitan area, which in tu ...

. Most recently, he served as vice president of public safety, health, environment and security for

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

, where he was responsible for hazardous materials transportation safety, homeland security, railroad policing, crisis management, environmental compliance and operations, occupational health management, and continuity of business operations. Elliott has developed and implemented computer-based tools to assist emergency management officials, first responders, and homeland security personnel in preparing for and responding to railroad hazardous materials and security incidents. Elliott is a recipient of the

Association of American Railroads The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is an industry trade group representing primarily the major freight Rail transport, railroads of North America (Canada, Mexico and the United States). Amtrak and some regional Commuter rail in North Am ...

Holden-Proefrock Award for lifetime achievement in hazardous materials transportation safety.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Howard R. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Indiana University Bloomington alumni Columbia Southern University alumni 20th-century American railroad executives 21st-century American railroad executives First Trump administration personnel