Thea D. Rozman Kendler was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration at the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), following unanimous confirmation by the United States Senate. In this role, Ms. Kendler leads Export Administration’s highly trained technical professionals in controlling the export of dual-use and military items for national security and foreign policy reasons, analyzing the impact of export controls, and supporting the U.S. defense industrial base. Among other responsibilities, Ms. Kendler chairs the Advisory Committee on Export Policy (ACEP), which resolves interagency policy disputes related to export license applications submitted to BIS. To advance U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, Ms. Kendler regularly engages with Congress, industry, academia, and other stakeholders on the nature and scope of BIS’s activities and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

Ms. Kendler joined BIS as an experienced export controls, sanctions, and national security attorney. Before joining the Biden-Harris Administration, she was a prosecutor in the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, handling complex investigations and prosecutions affecting U.S. national security and strategic trade controls.  From 2004-2014, Ms. Kendler served in BIS’s counsel’s office, where she provided legal advice to BIS’s Export Administration and Export Enforcement branches, including during the initial years of Export Control Reform. Before joining the federal government, Ms. Kendler practiced in the international trade group of a global law firm.

Ms. Kendler received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. While in law school, she received a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) grant from the U.S. Department of Education to further her Chinese language study.  Ms. Kendler earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton University, with a concentration in the School of Public and International Affairs and certificates in East Asian Studies and Chinese Culture.  She has studied Chinese, Japanese, and Russian, and lived in Japan as a teenager.  Ms. Kendler’s public service is inspired by gratitude to the United States for enabling her family’s immigration as post-World War II refugees.  Originally from New Jersey, Ms. Kendler now lives in Maryland.