Ms. Marcia Deppen has been working in various areas of Homeland Security and Emergency Management since 1999. After attending the University of Delaware, Ms. Deppen served as a Planner in the New Castle County, Delaware Office of Emergency Management. In that role, she was the radiological emergency preparedness coordinator, CERT program coordinator, public information officer, and damage assessment coordinator. She managed numerous federally graded radiological exercises, tropical storms, flooding events, and snowstorms.
In 2006, Ms. Deppen transitioned to the American Red Cross Delmarva Region as the Director of Emergency Services. She managed a team of five professionals and hundreds of volunteers supporting the organization’s direct service mission.
In 2007, Ms. Deppen returned to the University of Delaware to serve as the institution’s first full-time emergency manager. She was part of the team that implemented the university’s emergency notification system and expanded emergency planning efforts to address structural classroom loss, active shooter response, and class continuity planning. During her time at the university, she also supported response efforts for the H1N1 (Swine Flu) outbreak and Superstorm Sandy.
Ms. Deppen joined the Maryland Department of Emergency Management (MDEM) in 2013. She was initially hired in the Training and Exercise Branch as the State Exercise Officer and later served as Branch Manager before being promoted to Director of Consequence Management in 2018. In that role, she oversaw Planning, Training and Exercise, Resource Management, Continuity, Cyber Preparedness, the 24/7 Maryland Joint Operations Center, and several innovative emergency management initiatives.
In January 2026, Ms. Deppen was appointed Interim Director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security. In this position, she is leading initiatives including the counter-UAS (drone) detection project for the National Capital Region (NCR), Continuity of Government planning for the State of Maryland, and cybersecurity and critical infrastructure policy, procedures, and response efforts.
Ms. Deppen holds a Master’s degree in Disaster Studies from the University of Delaware Disaster Research Center and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Women’s Studies from the University of Delaware.
