ATF Acting Director Kenneth E. Melson
Kenneth E. Melson was named as Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives by President Obama. He assumed the post on April 12, 2009.
Most recently, Mr. Melson served as the Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, where he was responsible for administrative oversight of the 94 U.S. Attorneys Offices and for liaison between the U.S. Attorneys and other Federal agencies and Department of Justice (DOJ) components.
Mr. Melson is a graduate of the National Law Center at The George Washington University. After serving as a state prosecutor in Arlington County, Virginia, he joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia in 1983, becoming the First Assistant United States Attorney in 1986.
Mr. Melson is a co-chair of the Subcommittee on Forensic Science, Committee on Science of the National Science and Technology Council within the Executive Office of the President. He is a Past President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) and in 2006, became Chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. He currently represents DOJ as a board member of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB), serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Forensic Sciences, on the Ethics Committee for the AAFS, and on the Advisory Council of the National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law at Stetson University College of Law.
Mr. Melson has been an adjunct professor at The George Washington University for over 30 years, teaching law and forensic science courses at both the law school and the Department of Forensic Sciences, and publishes in both scientific texts and legal journals.