The U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) recently announced Elisabeth C. Kann has been selected as the next deputy administrator. Her appointment takes effect on Dec. 18.
David Wulf, TTB’s current deputy administrator, will be departing the Bureau on Dec. 17 to take on the role of deputy superintendent of the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York.
Kann brings a wealth of leadership experience and industry expertise to her new role. Since joining TTB in 2010 as a Presidential Management Fellow, Ms. Kann has handled many of the Bureau’s most complex and challenging issues and served in a variety of executive roles. Immediately preceding her appointment as deputy administrator, she served as the assistant administrator (policy & planning) and chief risk officer, overseeing and integrating the Bureau’s offices of strategic planning and analytics within an enterprise risk framework, and leading the Bureau’s efforts to implement the domestic and import provisions of the Craft Beverage Modernization Act. Prior to this most recent position, she served as chief of staff and assistant administrator (external affairs), expanding the Bureau’s communications program and leading efforts to improve stakeholder engagement, including integrating customer experience principles to modernize TTB programs and systems. Ms. Kann also served an extensive assignment as acting assistant administrator (headquarters operations) during the outset of the covid pandemic, leading the Bureau’s efforts to expand industry’s capacity to provide alcohol for use in hand sanitizers to protect public health.
Before beginning her federal career, Ms. Kann was a litigation attorney in the New York office of Kaye Scholer LLP, where she specialized in complex commercial and securities fraud litigation. She is a graduate from Dartmouth College, earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, and has a Master’s in Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Administrator Mary Ryan stated: “I am extremely pleased to welcome Lis to her new role. Her thoughtful and practical approach to regulation, and commitment to transparency and engagement, make her the best possible choice to help lead the Bureau’s efforts to promote a level playing field and protect consumers in a highly competitive marketplace.”
In his new position, Wulf will be responsible for preparing midshipmen to serve as Merchant Marine Officers and commissioned officers in the U.S. Armed Forces. Since joining TTB in January 2021, Wulf’s leadership has been instrumental in fostering the Bureau’s high levels of stakeholder engagement as well as furthering multifaceted initiatives to modernize TTB programs. Further, Wulf joined TTB during a period of transition in the midst of the pandemic and has played a critical role in establishing new workforce norms while ensuring that TTB continued to achieve its strategic goals, including maintaining high levels of customer service.