The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has named Mary Ryan as its new administrator, effective August 16.
“TTB is an outstanding organization with a proud past and a strong culture,” assistant secretary for tax policy David Kautter said in a press release. “It is my sincere belief that it will continue to prosper and not only maintain but improve its standard of excellence with Mary as its leader.”
Ryan has led the department for more than a year. She was named acting administrator last year after longtime TTB administrator John Manfreda died in May 2019. Ryan had previously served as deputy administrator, a role she held for nine years.
In her role as administrator, Ryan will oversee the permitting and regulation of companies in the alcohol, tobacco and firearms industries, as well as the collection of about $20 billion in federal excise taxes from those industries.
The TTB’s acting deputy administrator is Nicholas Colucci, who also serves as the assistant administrator of the Office of Field Operations.
Ryan has worked at the TTB and its predecessor, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, since 1991, the TTB said in a press release.
During her long career at the department, Ryan has held several positions: deputy assistant chief counsel for alcohol and tobacco from 1997-2003, deputy chief counsel from 2003-2005, assistant administrator for the Office of Field Operations from 2005-2010, and deputy administrator from 2010-2019.
In her time as the assistant administrator for the Office of Field Operation, Ryan launched the Intelligence Division, which entailed “securing a new agent workforce, and initiating an analytics-driven enforcement approach to address tax fraud and diversion.” She also managed the TTB’s permit and tax processing functions and helped improve “business processes through increased automation to enhance customer experience and service levels,” the release said.
Before joining the TTB, Ryan clerked for U.S. District Judge John Lewis Smith for the District of Columbia. She attended Georgetown University and Georgetown University Law Center.