A native of Sioux Falls, SD, Nancy A. Nord has served as a commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission since May 2005. Her term expires in October 2012.

 

Nord holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska and a law degree from the George Washington University in Washington, DC.

 

She has held a number of legal positions both in the federal government and in the private sector. Her federal experience includes service as general counsel of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, counsel to the Commerce Committee of the House of Representatives and attorney at the Federal Communications Commission.

 

In the private sector, she was the director of federal affairs for the Eastman Kodak Company, practiced law with the Washington, DC, law firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand, served as the executive director of the American Corporate Counsel Association and was director of consumer affairs for the US Chamber of Commerce.

 

Nord has been a lightning rod for criticism, from both the left and the right. CNN’s Lou Dobbs said of Nord, “Is she as imbecilic as she appears? To be as absolutely insensitive to American consumers, as absolutely lacking the judgment to run a federal agency designed and created to protect the American consumer? I mean this woman is beyond belief.”

 

It was also reported that Nord (and her predecessor, Hal Stratton) had taken numerous overseas trips at the expense of companies that the commission regulates. Nord has refused to heed demands by Democratic lawmakers that she resign her post.

Consumer Safety Chief Says She Won't Quit (CBS/Associated Press)

Industries Paid for Top Regulators' Travel (by Elizabeth Williamson, Washington Post)

There She Goes, Flying Off to Japan (by Elizabeth Williamson, Washington Post)

CPSC's Ethics-Review Process For Travel Criticized by Experts (by Elizabeth Williamson, Washington Post)