NCDOT Leadership: Secretary of Transportation

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EUGENE A. CONTI JR. - Gene Conti was appointed secretary of the North Carolina Department of Transportation by Gov. Bev. Perdue in January 2009. He brings more than 30 years of public service and private business management experience to this position, including tenures as secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation; assistant secretary for Transportation Policy at the United States Department of Transportation; and vice-president of PBS&J, an engineering consulting firm.

Since taking office, Secretary Conti has directed a sweeping reform of the NCDOT. He has focused on removing politics from the decision making process so that projects are selected based on objective, data-driven analysis of their benefits and costs. Under his leadership, NCDOT has also undergone an internal transformation that emphasizes performance management, transparency and accountability.

Secretary Conti is also leading the effort to create a transportation system for the 21st century that will attract businesses and jobs to North Carolina. This multi-pronged approach envisions an interconnected network of roads, rail, airports, ferries, mass transit and greenways that offer a range of options to move people and goods. He chairs a national committee focused on developing high-speed rail and intercity passenger rail across the country, and is widely recognized as an authority on innovative transportation finance strategies.

Secretary Conti is a native of Pittsburgh, PA., and a long-time resident of Raleigh. He earned his Ph.D. in anthropology, as well as his master’s degree in policy science and public affairs, from Duke University, whose Blue Devil teams run a close second to his beloved Steelers.

He and his wife Betsy have four children.