Aerospace and defense veteran Amanda Simpson has been appointed to the Department of Commerce as a senior technical adviser.

Simpson, who is transgender, will be working in the Bureau of Industry and Security.

"I'm truly honored to have received this appointment and am eager and excited about this opportunity that is before me," she said in a press release by the National Center for Transgender Equality, an organization for which she has served on the board of directors. "And at the same time, as one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds, and that this appointment opens future opportunities for many others."

Simpson was most recently the deputy director in Advanced Technology Development at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson. A flight instructor and test pilot, Simpson also holds degrees in physics, engineering, and business administration.