John Mercer
Projects Officer
U.S. State Department
John is the principal technical officer for document security matters for the U.S. passport and visa. Within the established policy and procurement guidelines, he works to optimize the security features for each document, and to propose improvements to each. He chairs the Design Development Team for the new US chip-enabled passport, and he serves as Chairman of the ICAO Document Content and Format Working Group, which writes and updates international specifications for passports, visas and travel cards. He has written and presented many technical papers in the field of travel document design and security features.
John holds an MS in Chemistry from Case-Western Reserve University. He worked for the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing for 19 years in materials research and production problem resolution for currency and stamps prior to joining the State Department in 1994.
