CHSS Distinguished Alumni - History and Art History

Jay Trainer

MA History '95

Jay Trainer is the chief operating officer for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Trainer served in an acting capacity from December 2023 until assuming the role in December 2024. As COO, Trainer oversees NARA’s outward facing organizations, such as: agency services, researcher services, presidential libraries, legislative archives, museums, public programs, and the federal register. Trainer also plays a key role in shaping NARA’s strategic direction.

Trainer started his career with the NARA in 1988 as a student trainee at the NARA Federal Records Center in Dayton, Ohio.  Upon reassignment to Washington, D.C., in 1991 he held a progression of management analyst and financial analyst positions. From 2004 into 2013 he served as the assistant director for NARA’s Federal Records Centers Program (FRCP). The FRCP, which operates as a federal revolving fund, consists of 18 facilities nationwide that store and service more than 25 million cubic feet of federal records with a staff of more than 1,200 full-time employees. In 2013 he became NARA’s executive for agency services, which includes the Office of the Chief Records Officer, Information Security Oversight Office, National Declassification Center, Office of Government Information Services, and the FRCP.    

Trainer holds a BA in history from the University of Dayton and an MA in American history from George Mason University.