Advertising Practices Associate Director Mary K. Engle Leaving the FTC

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph J. Simons announced today that Mary K. Engle, currently the Associate Director of the Division of Advertising Practices, will be retiring from the Commission at the end of this month, after 30 years of service to the Commission and consumers.

“Consumers nationwide have benefited greatly from many important law enforcement actions and policy initiatives that Mary Engle has directed,” said Andrew Smith, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Mary has been an ideal colleague and an inspiring supervisor, and all of us who have had the privilege of working with her have benefited from her wisdom, judgment, kindness, and unfailing good humor.”

In 2001, FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris appointed Engle as the Bureau of Consumer Protection’s Associate Director for the Division of Advertising Practices. As head of that Division for almost 19 years, Engle has overseen the Bureau’s work regarding national advertising policy and law enforcement, including claims made about food, dietary supplements, alcohol, tobacco, and broadband as well as digital technology marketing practices, such as native advertising and influencer marketing.

She has successfully led law enforcement actions of national significance, including POM Wonderful, Braswell, Eli Lilly (the FTC’s first privacy case), and Lord & Taylor (the agency’s first case involving social media influencers). She also spearheaded numerous advertising policy initiatives and ground-breaking studies that have transformed advertising industry practices.

Engle began her FTC career in 1990 as an attorney in the Division of Advertising Practices. She served in a range of other positions during her time with the agency, including Assistant to two Directors of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, Attorney Advisor in the office of Commissioner Roscoe B. Starek, and Assistant Director in both the Enforcement and Advertising Practices Divisions.

She has received numerous awards over the course of her federal government career, including the Meritorious Executive Rank Award from President Obama for sustained superior accomplishment in the management of U.S. government programs in 2012, and the FTC Chairman’s Award for the Commission’s 2000 Media Violence Study and Report.

Engle is a cum laude graduate of Harvard University and received her J.D. from the University of Virginia.

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