A transportation and infrastructure expert with more than 23 years at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has been named executive director of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the DOT announced recently.
Gloria Shepherd was named to the post on Oct. 20, the DOT announced at the time. As FHWA executive director, Shepherd will manage a national network of highway and street programs "that advance safe, efficient, equitable and sustainable mobility choices for all while strengthening the nation's economy," the announcement states. The FHWA administers more than $350 billion from President Joe Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to grant recipients in state DOTs, metropolitan planning organizations, local governments, tribes, territories, and federal land-management agencies, the DOT states.
DOT Sec. Pete Buttigieg said that from her time with the Maryland and New York DOTs to her two decades in federal service, Shepherd has "dedicated her extraordinary career to serving the traveling public.”
“We are lucky to have her expertise, insight, and dedication," Buttigieg said, "as we work to modernize our nation’s roads, bridges, and highways to serve the American people now and for generations to come.”
Shepherd is the 11th executive director for the FHWA since 1971, and its first woman and first African American to do so, the DOT reports. She has been the Associate Administrator for Planning, Environment and Realty since 2007; prior to that role, Shepherd was Director of the Office of Planning. Before joining the DOT, Shepherd held leadership roles at the Maryland State Highway Administration and the New York Department of Transportation, according to the statement.
“Our nation’s street and highway infrastructure is changing in real time and there is no one with more experience and dedication to this work to help guide that transition than Gloria,” FHWA Acting Administrator Stephanie Pollack said in the announcement.
“Her expertise, commitment to mentorship of current and future transportation leaders," Pollack said, "and the respect she has built over her long career position her to improve our transportation infrastructure as she leads FHWA as Executive Director. I look forward to seeing what she accomplishes in the years to come."
Shepherd expressed gratitude to be named to be leader of the agency and understand the "enormous responsibility that comes with the position."
“I am grateful that history has allowed me to fulfill the dreams of my parents and relatives who have gone on and bent their shoulders low, so I could stand on them in this position of public service," Shepherd said. "I am confident with the help of all the talented people in FHWA, we will not only fulfill our mission but reach new horizons.”
