U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta welcomed Annette Sandberg as deputy administrator of DOT's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

An attorney by training, Sandberg spent more than 17 years in a variety of law enforcement, supervisory, and administrative posts with the Washington State Patrol, including nearly 6 years as its chief. When appointed to that position in 1995, she was the first woman in the country to head a State police agency. Since June 2001, she has practiced law in Olympia, WA.

Sandberg received her law degree from the University of Puget Sound School of Law and her MBA from City University in Bellevue, WA. She also was chosen to attend executive institutes at Harvard University and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.