BEP Directors

Patricia “Patty” Solimene served as the 27th Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.   Collins is the first woman to hold the position in BEP’s 162-year history.  Patty came to the BEP from the Government Publishing Office (GPO) with extensive experience as a leader in a multitude of areas, including information technology, knowledge management, strategic leadership and organizational change.

Prior to joining the GPO in May 2020, she retired as a Colonel following a 24-year career in the U.S. Army.  She served as a Communications Officer from 1991 to 2015 and spent seven of those years within the Joint Special Operations Command.  During her military career, she served several tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, where she provided leadership and organization to those under her command to complete their missions successfully.

In 2006, six weeks after returning home from a deployment in Iraq, Patty was struck by a car while riding her bicycle to work at Fort Bragg.  Her injury left her a below-the-knee amputee, but her perseverance and determination would not allow the incident to cloud her outlook or affect her military service.  Upon rehabilitation, she continued to serve, deploying to Afghanistan in 2010 and commanding a Tactical Signal Battalion.  A pioneer in her field, she was one of a small number of women to serve in Special Operations, was the first woman in the Department of Defense to complete the Military Free Fall Jumpmaster Course and the first female amputee to continue active-duty service post amputation.  

In 2014, Patty became the Chief Information Officer for the Joint Force Headquarters Military District of the Washington-National Capitol Region, where she led a team working with federal and local law enforcement agencies during crisis response exercises and provided command and control support plans for national events such as Presidential Inaugurations and State Funerals.

Patty retired from active duty in 2015 and went on to represent the United States at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as a captain and team member of the U.S. Paralympic team, competing in the Paratriathlon.  She later joined the McChrystal Group as a Principal consultant, where she focused on leadership development and guiding clients through complex challenges in the public and private business sectors.

Patty, a native of Hackettstown, NJ, holds a Master’s degree from the National War College in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University.