John D. Porcari, former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), has been named senior vice president and national director of strategic consulting at Parsons Brinckerhoff.
As the head of Parsons Brinckerhoff’s strategic consulting group, Porcari will guide the firm’s efforts to integrate technical expertise with the strategic thinking needed by owners, developers, and operators of transportation infrastructure to solve critical business and operational problems and establish the foundation for successful delivery of programs and projects. He will be based in Parsons Brinckerhoff’s Washington, D.C., office.
Porcari was deputy secretary at the DOT since 2009, serving as the chief operating officer for an executive branch department with a $77 billion annual budget, composed of 10 operating administrations and 55,000 employees worldwide. He was responsible for managing all DOT operations, which include operation of the nation’s airspace and air traffic control system; funding the interstate, national highway, transit and passenger rail systems; safety regulation and oversight of aviation, passenger vehicle, truck, motor coach, pipeline industries; and promotion of the maritime and merchant marine industry.
Porcari twice served as secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation, from 2007 to 2009 and from 1999 to 2003, managing a state agency responsible for integrated highway, transit, aviation, port, bridge and tunnel authority and motor vehicle administration components, with 9,300 employees and a $3.2 billion annual budget.
From 2003 to 2007 Porcari was vice president for administrative affairs at the University of Maryland, serving as chief administrative officer and chief financial officer for the flagship campus of university system of Maryland.
Porcari received a master’s degree in public administration from the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, State University of New York at Albany and a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of Dayton. He has served on the board of directors of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the American Public Transportation Association, the World Trade Center Institute, and the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
