John H. Bridges III, Former Incident Commander for Anthrax Response and Mitigation, US Postal Service, 2001 to 2004

John H. Bridges III is the President and Chief Executive Officer for the American College of Forensic Examiners Institute, which is chartered to foster the advancement of standards related to scientific and academic associations that represent the forensic, mental health, integrative medicine, and homeland security disciplines. Multi-disciplinary in its scope, ACFEI actively promotes the dissemination of integrated learning to further the continued advancement of academic and professional standards. Prior to his current position, Bridges served as the Assistant Administrator with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and as the Executive Director, National Preparedness and Homeland Security with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) in Washington, DC. In addition to these and other prestigious senior executive service positions, Bridges has an extensive background as a leading decision-maker in the homeland security arena; for instance, he served as Incident Commander for the world's largest anthrax response, decontamination, and fumigation exercise to prepare for and respond to a massive biological terrorist attack in the United States. His in-depth knowledge of incident management, public safety, operations, and supply-chain logistics stems from his experience as a former federal on-scene coordinator and more than 20 years of training with the U.S. Marine Corps.

Since retiring from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1995, Bridges completed the Homeland Security Program offered by the ANSER Institute for Homeland Security. He was also named a Fellow of the Institute of Hazardous Materials Management, a Senior Fellow and Professor for Homeland Security with The National Graduate School and University, and a Fellow of the American College of Forensic Examiners (FACFE) due to his wealth of experience, knowledge, and skill in the homeland security arena. He currently serves on numerous national boards of directors and served for several years on the President's Council on Sustainable Development, Environmental Management Task Force during the Clinton Administration.

Bridges is a graduate of the Senior Executive Fellows (SEF) program at the JFK School of Government, Harvard University; the Corporate Environmental Leadership program at Yale University; and he and completed both the Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School and Command and Staff College curriculums.  He has received numerous national awards in recognition of his leadership associated with biological response and decontamination efforts while he served as Incident Commander between 2001 and 2003. His exhaustive work as the architect and author of anthrax response and decontamination procedures for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service paved the way for his current patent holdings, to include work to further the development of surface sampling methods for Bacillus anthracis spore contamination, which led to his nomination by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the Charles C. Shepard Science Award in 2002.

With more than 30 years of academic, standards development, and private sector experience, Bridges draws from real-life evidence to produce significant competitive advantages and make better business decisions, which leads to Success You Can Measure! Mr. Bridges is a seasoned professional who holds multiple degrees and credentials, to include being a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (CLSSBB). His desire to champion change, coupled with his hands-on experience and performance-based methodology, lead to his Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) honoris causa degree in Quality Systems Management and his current pursuit of a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) in Homeland Security with an anticipated graduation date scheduled for March 2011.

Mr. Bridges was a member of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) with the Executive Office of the President of the United States and served on the Homeland Security Council (HSC) Biodefense Sub-Interagency Policy Committee. He is a member of the American Society for Testing and Materials E-54 Committee on Homeland Security Application, and the ANSI Certificate Accreditation Program (CAP) Accreditation Committee.