The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board of directors elected Mark Uncapher to serve as its chairperson and Alex Vogel to serve as vice chairperson for 2026 at its November 19 meeting. The board also re-elected Felice C. Smith as vice president and secretary to the Airports Authority. All three will serve one-year terms in office beginning in January.

Mark Uncapher, chairperson, is an appointee of the governor of Maryland. He is the executive director of the Fiber Optic Sensing Association. Uncapher is a member of the New York State and D.C. bar and a graduate of New York Law School and George Washington University. He previously was counsel to the subcommittee on government management, information & technology of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. After serving on Capitol Hill, he was senior vice president and counsel of the Information Technology Association of America and vice president and counsel at Stateside Associates. He was Montgomery County’s Republican Party chairman between 2008 to 2018 and continues as an officer of the Maryland State Republican Party. He was a member of the presidential transition team for the Federal Communication Commission in 2000-2001. Before moving to Maryland, he was an executive at Park Communications and assistant counsel to the New York State comptroller.

Alex Vogel, vice chairperson, is an appointee of the governor of Virginia. He is the chief executive officer of Vogel Group, a government affairs firm headquartered in Washington, D.C., and with offices in Virginia, Florida and Tennessee. Vogel previously served as chief counsel to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, general counsel of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and deputy counsel of the Republican National Committee. He is nationally recognized as an attorney and policy expert on federal regulatory and legislative strategy, risk management, political strategy, crisis management and strategic communications. Vogel previously served on the Virginia Aviation Board under Governor Robert McDonnell. Vogel received his Bachelor's degree in History from the University of California at San Diego and his law degree from George Washington University.

Felice C. Smith, secretary, carries out official board duties and manages day-to-day operations, including serving as an airports authority vice president and liaison to senior management. Smith joined the Airports Authority in February 2019 as associate general counsel and later became the authority's ethics officer. The board first elected Smith as secretary in February 2024. Prior to working for the Airports Authority, Smith was deputy chief ethics officer for the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Her public service also included roles as an assistant general counsel at the Library of Congress and as special assistant U.S. Attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Smith earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina and a law degree from Howard University.