JMU Federal Dukes Spotlight: Dan Riordan
Profile by Brenden Hogan, JMU Class of 2021 Marketing and Supply Chain
Dan’s Role
I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Dan Riordan, a 1985 JMU graduate who currently serves as the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Permitting and Taxation at the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). He talked about how TTB collects over $20 billion in Federal excise taxes each year on alcoholic beverage products, tobacco products and firearms and ammunition. His team determines suitability for businesses entering either the alcohol or tobacco industry in the United States and is responsible for evaluating each company’s application. TTB also approves or denies labels on any kind of alcoholic beverage introduced in inter-state commerce to protect against consumer deception. This can be more complex than you think and includes everything from font, color and images that are presented on the label.
Journey from JMU Graduation to Today
Dan completed his JMU journey in 1985 with his BBA in accounting. From there he went to George Washington University Law school where he received his Juris Doctorate. With a prestigious education in his pocket, Dan quickly got a job working for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) where he provided guidance on all federal anti-discrimination statutes and represented EEOC in federal court proceedings. After this, Dan began working for the DOJ Tax Division as General Counsel, and then worked at the IRS advising senior leadership on human resource strategies within the organization. With this HR experience on his resume, Dan eventually became the IRS Human Capital Officer overseeing all aspects of recruiting and hiring and managing HR operations for over 80,000 employees. Finally, after his time with the IRS, Dan transitioned to his role at TTB where he currently is today.
Biggest Challenges Facing Government Mission: Through Dan’s Lens
Dan noted that there is a great diversity of roles and activities to be performed in the federal government, in all areas. He feels that there is a need to continue attracting a high level of talent in these respective agencies and fill those roles that are so important to the government mission. Additionally, Dan feels that the people performing public service responsibilities are invaluable to our society. He believes that TTB does a great job at attracting talent as they are consistently ranked in the top tier of the Federal government’s best places to work. Dan believes that the most important aspect of government organizations is to attract people who are detail oriented, want to learn, have a strong work ethic, are collaborative and ultimately want to make a difference.
How did JMU prepare you for your career?
Similar to many alumni, Dan believes that his time at James Madison University helped him develop holistically as a person. Being in the business program and his leadership roles at JMU in SGA, including SGA President, helped him develop a strong work ethic and tremendous “people skills” needed to succeed in roles where he was responsible for being part of a team. Lastly, JMU helped him stay in a constant “learning mode” in which he has remained throughout his career. Dan notes that this specific trait has helped him stay engaged in making a difference within the work he does each day.
