People News: AASHTO, ABAG/MTC
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
Pictured: 2022-23 AASHTO President Roger Millar (left) and Vice President Paul Ajegba; and Therese W. McMillan, Executive Director, ABAG and MTC.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Board has elected a President and Vice President for 2022-23. Also, Therese W. McMillan will step down as Executive Director of both the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) in California.
Washington State Department of Transportation Secretary Roger Millar and Michigan Department of Transportation Director Paul Ajegba have been elected AASHTO President and Vice President, respectively, for 2022-23.
Appointed WSDOT Secretary in August 2016, Millar is a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and of the American Institute of Certified Planners. He also serves as President of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Transportation and Development Institute, Chair of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America’s Board, and a member of the National Complete Streets Coalition Steering Committee.
Ajegba has led the Michigan DOT since January 2019. He is a member of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials and serves on the boards of ITS America, University of Michigan Civil and Environmental Engineering Friends Association, and Mackinac Bridge Authority.
ABAG and MTC on Oct. 27 reported that they have begun a nationwide recruitment effort to select the agencies’ next Executive Director, to succeed Therese W. McMillan who in September announced her intention to retire on Jan. 31, 2023. She has served both agencies since 2019. ABAG is the regional planning agency for the Bay Area’s nine counties and 101 cities and towns, and is recognized as the first council of governments in California. MTC is the transportation planning, funding and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.
McMillan, who first joined the MTC staff in 1984 as a transportation planner, served in a series of increasingly responsible positions over the next 25 years, including nine years as MTC’s Deputy Executive Director for Policy, before her 2009 appointment by then-President Barack Obama to serve as Deputy Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration. She subsequently served as acting FTA Administrator from March 2014 to March 2016 before taking the position as Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Chief Planning Officer in April 2016.
CPS HR Consulting, which specializes in executive search and other personnel services for government agencies, will manage the recruitment process for ABAG and MTC. “Given the issues facing the region, the next Executive Director must possess a strong understanding of transportation funding and project delivery; familiarity with regional transportation and land use planning principles associated with demographics, air quality, affordable and market rate housing and housing demand, and natural resource protection; and knowledge of the diverse issues facing urban, suburban and rural areas,” the agencies said.
