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WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Mark Rosekind, Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, will deliver the annual government keynote address at the 2016 Washington Auto Show's Public Policy Day Jan. 21, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

"The Washington Auto Show has long championed the theme of sustainable mobility, and we're honored that one of the world's leading safety experts will speak on behalf of the Administration at our Public Policy Day," said Geoff Pohanka, chairman of the 2016 Washington Auto Show and metro area representative on the board of the National Automobile Dealers Association.

The 2016 Washington Auto Show: The Power of Mobility preview opens Jan. 20 with the first of two Public Policy Days. Geared toward officials in industry, government and media, these events kick off with a Capitol Hill forum on Wednesday, Jan. 20 and continue Thursday, Jan. 21 at the show site, the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, for a full day of press conferences and special events highlighted by Dr. Rosekind's government keynote.

"As the Washington Auto Show puts it, 'the power of mobility' is a force that, literally, transports our lives to new vistas and possibilities," says Rosekind. "With new technologies from automated driving to improved blind-spot monitoring, we also have the opportunity and responsibility to put safety first."

The 15th Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Dr. Rosekind is pursuing NHTSA's core safety mission of saving lives, preventing injuries, and reducing crashes through all of the tools at NHTSA's disposal —including enforcement authority, public awareness campaigns, support of technical innovation, and research into human behavior.

Administrator Rosekind is an internationally recognized expert on human fatigue, credited with leading the field in innovative research and implementing programs in all modes of transportation. His work has been widely published, and his awards include NASA's Exceptional Service Medal, the Mark O. Hatfield Award for Public Policy from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and two Flight Safety Foundation honors: the President's Citation for Outstanding Safety Leadership and the Business Aviation Meritorious Service Award.

Before becoming NHTSA Administrator, Dr. Rosekind served as the 40th member of the National Transportation Safety Board from 2010 to 2014. He was the on-scene board member for seven major transportation accidents and participated in numerous NTSB public events on diverse safety topics. Dr. Rosekind advanced the agency's advocacy goals on substance-impaired driving, fatigue, fire safety, and rail mass transit. Prior to his appointment to the NTSB, Dr. Rosekind founded Alertness Solutions, a scientific consulting firm that specialized in fatigue management, and served as the company's first president and chief scientist. He launched his professional career as the director of the Center for Human Sleep Research at the Stanford University Sleep Disorders and Research Center. Administrator Rosekind earned his A.B. with honors from Stanford University, his M.S., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Yale University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Brown University Medical School.

The public policy show on the auto show circuit, The Washington Auto Show connects industry leaders with public policy makers, a nexus underscored at the show's Public Policy Preview Days. Held in advance of the 10-day public show, the preview days convene thought leaders at the intersection of industry and policy to tackle some of the most pressing issues in the automotive sector.