Rhett Jeppson

Matthew “Rhett” Jeppson is the Director of External Engagements for the
Office of Military and Veterans Affairs at JPMorgan Chase & Co. He oversees
the firm’s relationships across the private and nonprofit sectors, government
and higher education on issues of veteran employment, workforce
development, and small business.

Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase, Rhett served as the Chief Executive of the
United States Mint from January 2015 to January 2017. He also served as
the Acting Chief Operating Officer of the Small Business Administration
where he oversaw all aspects of the agency’s disaster and risk management,
personnel, facilities, information technology and equal opportunity programs.
A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Rhett served active duty for 28 years as
an infantry officer spending signicant time with US Special Operations
Command. He has been deployed in conflicts ranging from Operation Desert
Storm in Iraq to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
In the midst of his military career in 1991, Rhett left active duty to return to
Florida to attend to his family’s home construction business after his father
suffered a serious illness.

Rhett re-entered active duty in 1995 and served as an Operations Officer with
Special Operations Command Central within Southwest Asia and the Horn of
Africa. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Rhett served as the
representative to the European Command’s Counter-Terrorism Joint Planning
Group. He was later assigned as Chief of Current Operations, directly
responsible for the employment of all Marine Corps forces in Europe and
Western Africa.

Following that assignment, Rhett was assigned to U.S. Special Operations
Command in Tampa, Fla., where he developed and led the command’s
engagement with key European partners. He subsequently served in
Afghanistan with U.S. Forces—Afghanistan as the Deputy Director of
Operations. Rhett retired from in the Marine Corps Reserve in 2016.
He graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in history.