Robert D. Samaan is currently serving as the Acting Regional Administrator for FEMA Region 4, which is comprised of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, in addition to six federally recognized Tribal Nations. In his normal capacity, Samaan serves as the Deputy Regional Administrator. Appointed as Deputy Regional Administrator in 2014, he leads and coordinates the efforts of the region’s workforce to administer federal emergency preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery programs in coordination with state, local, and tribal emergency management.
Since his appointment, Samaan has helped oversee FEMA operations for more than 80 presidentially declared major disasters in Region 4. He has also helped initiate a variety of programs and events to improve cooperation and coordination between FEMA and its stakeholders in order to streamline disaster response and recovery operations. These include the Partners in Emergency Management Workshops, Southeast Private-Public Partners Summits, and Southeast Radiological Emergency Preparedness Workshops, as well as numerous Community Preparedness campaigns and outreach seminars. He also led the team that developed and started implementation of the FEMA Integration Team (FIT) concept across the nation.
Previously, Samaan served as FEMA's Region 4 Federal Preparedness Coordinator and National Preparedness Division Director, overseeing several national preparedness programs.
Samaan joined FEMA in 2010, serving as the Senior Policy Advisor to the Deputy Administrator for Protection and National Preparedness (PNP) in FEMA’s Washington, D.C., headquarters. Prior to joining FEMA, Samaan served multiple roles in California Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Prior to his work in California, Samaan served in the Office of State and Local Government Coordination at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Samaan was raised in Daytona Beach, Fla., and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Lee University in Tennessee and a Master of Arts degree in Political Management from George Washington University. He is a graduate of both the Executive Leadership Program at the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School and the National Emergency Management Executive Academy at FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute. Samaan is a career member of the Senior Executive Service.