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After waiting more than two years since the last Mint Director officially resigned, the White House announced last week that Matthew Rhett Jeppson would be nominated as Director of the Mint. Jeppson currently serves as the Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. Mint. Once sworn in, he will become the 39th Director of the U.S. Mint.

The office of the Director dates back to the creation of the Mint under the Coinage Act of 1792. The Director is tasked with overseeing the manufacture and distribution of circulating precious metal and collectible coins as well as national medals at six facilities across the United States.

The U.S. Mint has been without a Director since Edmund C. Moy resigned in January 2012. Since then, Acting Director Richard Peterson has served as leader of the Mint. Under Peterson’s stewardship, the Mint has made dramatic improvements in manufacture and design. Jeppson will benefit greatly from the progress Peterson made, and Peterson is likely to remain an integral member of the cabinet going forward.

Prior to joining the Mint, Jeppson served as the Acting Chief Operating Officer of the Small Business Administration and served as Associate Administrator for Veterans Business Development at the SBA. He is also a highly decorated member of the U.S. Marine Corps. According to the U.S. Mint, Jeppson has been deployed in conflicts ranging from Operation Desert Storm in Iraq to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. He continues to serve in the Marine Corps Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel.

From 2010 to 2012, Jeppson was Lead Crisis Response Planner at U.S. European Command.  He previously served as Deputy Director of Operations for U.S. Forces Afghanistan. From 2004 to 2008, he was Chief of Joint National Training Capability and European Engagements Lead at the United States Special Operations Command and served as Counter-Terrorism Planner and Chief of Current Operations for Marine Forces Europe from 2001 to 2003.

Jeppson was recently recognized for spearheading the U.S. Mint’s new partnership with the Center for Women Veterans at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which will fill new positions at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints with former service members. According to a press statement, the Mint was seeking to hire “quality, committed, disciplined, and dedicated people” to work in its manufacturing facilities, all of which are qualities that veterans embody.