pistoldrew's Blog

It's being widely reported that President Barack Obama has made his first appointment of a transgendered person. Amanda Simpson has been choses as a Senior Technical Advisor to the Department of Commerce, marking the first transgender appointment in an American presidential administration.

Simpson has more than 30 years of experience in the aerospace and defense industry, most recently serving as Deputy Director in Advanced Technology Development at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Arizona. While working at Raytheon, she transitioned from male-to-female over a six-year period, and successfully lobbied to add gender identity to Raytheon's Equal Employment Opportunity Policy.

Simpson also holds degrees in physics, engineering and business administration along with an extensive flight background. She is a certified flight instructor and test pilot with 20 years of experience.

More details over at The Examiner.