Thomas Emanuel Dans was appointed by President Donald Trump in December 2025 to serve as the 12th Chairman of the United States Arctic Research Commission, an independent federal agency responsible for developing U.S. Arctic research policy. He represents the interests of industry on the Commission.

Mr. Dans’ career includes over three decades of successful experience in finance and venture investing, entrepreneurship and public service, and spans a broad range of Arctic industries including oil and gas, mining, energy, agribusiness and fisheries, tourism and transportation. Through Almiranta Strategies, he currently advises investors and businesses active in the Arctic, including a leading global shipbuilder working to develop icebreakers and ice-class vessels for the United States.

He holds degrees in Russian Studies and U.S. History from Brown University and during the Soviet Union, studied as an exchange student at the Moscow Energy Institute. Mr. Dans becomes the first fluent speaker of Russian, the language of the world’s largest Arctic nation, to lead the Commission in its more than 40-year history.

A proud Texan and Hispanic American, he speaks five languages and has lived, worked and traveled in over 40 countries. His family roots also extend over 400 years across the north of Canada.

Mr. Dans also continues a proud tradition of Arctic service to the United States begun by his grandfather and namesake, Manuel Dans, a 50-year U.S. Merchant Mariner, who during WWII made the “Murmansk Run” and served in the defense of Greenland.