Ken Burris
- Chief Executive Officer
- 202.585.0780
- International Operations
Mr. Ken Burris is the Chief Executive Office of Witt Associates and the former Chief Operating Officer of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). His responsibilities at FEMA included the day to day operations of the agency's eight thousand full time and contract employees, managed a seven billion dollar budget, and served as a senior advisor to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security for emergency response, recovery, and preparedness. Prior to assuming the duties of COO, Mr. Burris served as the Regional Director of FEMA's Region IV where his responsibilities included disaster response, recovery, and preparedness oversight for the Southeastern United States.
Previous to FEMA, Mr. Burris served as the Chief Operating Office of the United States Fire Administration and Acting U.S. Fire Administrator, and was instrumental in the establishment of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. This grant program has distributed two billion dollars to local fire departments for the purpose of preparing the nation's fire service to respond to events of all types.
Operationally, Mr. Burris has served in a senior level capacity in a multitude of national incidents including the World Trade Towers 9/11, the Columbia Shuttle recovery mission, the hurricanes of 2004, and Hurricane Katrina. Internationally Mr. Burris assisted with FEMA’s assistance to Iran during the Bam Earthquake, USAID during the Haiti Earthquake, provided oversight of emergency medical capacity building in Changdu, China after the Wenchuan Earthquake, and advises international NGOs on crisis response and preparedness issues related to international humanitarian assistances.
In 2006, Mr. Burris received the Department of Homeland Security's Silver Medal for service to America from Secretary Chertoff, was awarded the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive by President Bush, and was recognized as a leading Senior Executive in the government.
Before entering the federal service, Mr. Burris retired from the City of Marietta Fire Department after twenty-three years of service, attaining the position of Chief of the Department. During his tenure as Fire Chief, Mr. Burris held numerous national fire service leadership positions including the President of the Southeastern Association of Fire Chiefs, and Treasure of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
Mr. Burris has a Bachelor of Science in Fire Protection Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, and a Masters of Public Administration from Kennesaw State University from which he was awarded the Outstanding Alumni Award in 1999.