People News: GATX, Bentley, APTA

Erik Henstra has joined global tank container leasing company Trifleet as Managing Director. Trifleet is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago-based GATX Corporation. (Photograph Courtesy of GATX)

GATX’s Trifleet Leasing Holding B.V. appoints Erik Henstra as Managing Director. Also, Bentley Systems names Michael Campbell Chief Product Officer and expands the responsibilities of four executives; and the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) selects new Vice Chair and announces Executive Committee and Board of Directors nominees.

Erik Henstra has joined global tank container leasing company Trifleet as Managing Director. Most recently, he served LeasePlan, holding various senior roles in finance, commerce and operations, including Managing Director of LeasePlan The Netherlands. Henstra earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Nyenrode Business University and a master’s in economics from the University of Groningen; he completed a post-master in controlling at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

“Erik is a proven leader with extensive international experience in asset leasing and associated services,” said Thomas A. Ellman, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Chicago-based GATX, which includes Trifleet as a wholly owned subsidiary. “We are confident that Erik is the ideal person to build on Trifleet’s successes and guide Trifleet in its next phase of growth.”

At infrastructure engineering software firm Bentley Systems, Michael Campbell has taken on the role of Chief Product Officer, responsible for defining the company’s product strategy and for managing product development. He will report to Chief Operating Officer Nicholas Cumins.

Campbell served previously as Executive Vice President and General Manager at PTC Inc., a product engineering software company, where he handled augmented reality offerings; he also had product leadership responsibility for PTC’s mainstream design applications and for its IoT acquisitions.

“Mike brings to Bentley his vast experience of software innovation at PTC, and a unique perspective on the evolution of engineering software applications to incorporate cloud services,” Cumins said. “We share a belief that infrastructure engineering can learn from product engineering’s advancements in going digital, including leveraging digital twins and industrializing digital workflows.”

Bentley has also expanded the responsibilities of four executives:

• James Lawton has been named to the newly created role of Chief Digital Officer. Lawton joined Bentley with the acquisition of geosciences software company Seequent in 2021. He will lead Bentley’s digital experience strategy, as well as the IT organization.
• Claire Rutkowski, after six years as Bentley’s Chief Information Officer, is now SVP, CIO Champion, leading solutions and advocacy for engineering firms. She joined Bentley in 2016 from the position of CIO at major infrastructure engineering firm Stantec/MWH.
• Suzanne Little has been elevated to the newly created role of Chief Colleague Success Officer. She will not only lead global Human Resources functions and teams, but also will have the expanded responsibility for “enhancing the overall colleague experience,” according to Bentley. She was previously Vice President of Talent.
• Florence Zheng, Chief Talent Officer, has become an advisor, for organizational succession, to Bentley’s Board.

APTA on Sept. 6 reported that its 2022 Nominating Committee has selected Dorval R. Carter, Jr., President of Chicago Transit Authority, as the next Vice Chair for APTA. Kevin J. Holzendorf, Immediate Past Chair, Jacksonville (Fla.) Transportation Authority Board of Directors, will assume the position of Chair of APTA for 2022-23. Jeffrey A. Nelson, CEO/Managing Director of Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District (Metrolink) in Moline, Ill., will serve as Immediate Past Chair. Jeffrey Wharton, Director, Contracts and Technical Services for Systra Engineering, is Secretary-Treasurer for 2022-25. APTA said members will vote on the 2022-23 slate of nominees on Oct. 7 during the association’s 2022 TRANSform Conference in Seattle, Wash.

The 2022 Nominating Committee also nominated Members-at-Large for both the APTA Executive Committee and the APTA Board of Directors. Nominated to three-year terms as Members-at-Large of the 25-member APTA Executive Committee are:

• Francis (“Buddy”) Coleman, Chief Customer Officer at Clever Devices Ltd., Business Member-at-Large.
• Denise Figueroa, Board Member of CDTA in Albany, N.Y., Transit Board Member-at-Large.
• Adelee Le Grand, CEO of HART in Tampa, Fla., Executive Committee Member-at-Large

The Committee also approved the following individuals to fill Portfolio Seats on the Executive Committee:

• Doug Tisdale, CEO of Tisdale & Associates LLC; District H Director and Past Board Chair, Regional Transportation District, Denver, Colo.
• Bill Carpenter, CEO of Regional Transit Service in Rochester, N.Y.
• Jannet Walker-Ford, Senior Vice President and National Transit and Rail Business Line Leader at WSP.
• Carolyn Gonot, CEO and General Manager of Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority in San Jose, Calif.

Nominations for three-year terms on the APTA Board of Directors are:

Transit System Directors:

• Carrie Butler, Executive Director of Transit Authority of River City in Louisville, Ky.
• Samuel Desue, General Manager of Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon in Portland.
• Bacarra Mauldin, Chief of Staff at Memphis Area Transit Authority in Tennessee.
• Lauren Skiver, CEO/General Manager of SunLine Transit Agency in Thousand Palms, Calif.
• Troi Taylor, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Houston Metro) in Texas.
• Caitlin Vargas, President, Board of Directors at Lane Transit District in Springfield, Ore.

Business Member Directors:

• Krish Inbarajan, CEO of Preteckt, Inc.
• Christopher Boylan, Director, Governmental and Strategic Partnerships at General Contractors Association of NY, Inc.