Born in England, Mary A. Bomar is the first naturalized citizen to hold the director’s post. She joined the National Park Service (NPS) in 1990 after spending more than 12 years with the Department of Defense, United States Air Force. Her first NPS post was with Amistad National Recreation Area, Texas, where she remained for four years and became chief of administration.

 

Before accepting a management position at the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park (Oklahoma) in 1994, she completed a detail as the Acting Superintendent of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. She was subsequently promoted to the position of Assistant Superintendent at San Antonio.

 

In 2000, Bomar was Superintendent of Oklahoma City National Memorial during start-up operations. She was also the first NPS State Coordinator for Oklahoma. She worked as superintendent of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia from 2003-05 before becoming the 17th Director of the National Park Service on Oct. 17, 2006.