WASHINGTON--President George W. Bush Monday announced his intention to nominate former deputy secretary of transportation Michael P. Jackson as the second in command at the Department of Homeland Security.

If confirmed, Jackson, currently senior vice president for AECOM Technology Corporation, a leading engineering company, would be the top deputy to Homeland Security Secretary-designate Michael Chertoff.

Jackson would also replace James M. Loy, a retired U.S. Coast Guard commandant. The deputy secretary at the Transportation Department from 2001 to 2003, Jackson has a reputation as an effective manager.

In a book, “After,” about homeland security published two years ago, author Steven Brill called Jackson "whip smart when it came to budget and operational details, a real manager who everyone seemed to think was destined for bigger things."

Before taking the job at Transportation during the current Administration’s first term, Jackson served as chief operating officer of Lockheed Martin Corp.'s intelligent-transportation systems unit.

For four years prior to that, Jackson was senior vice president with the American Trucking Association, having come to the ATA after two years as chief of staff to then-DOT Secretary Andrew Card.

Jackson graduated with honors from the University of Houston and received a Ph.D. in political science from Georgetown University.

He is also a member of the President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, or “Aldridge Commission,” which identifies itself as the “President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond.”

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