Major Gen. John Peabody, former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deputy commander for civil and emergency operations, has joined design firm Mott McDonald as senior vice president and federal programs director, based in Arlington, Va. He retired from the Corps in 2015, after a 35-year Army career. In his final two years, he ran a $6-billion program. He also had commanded three Corps divisions.
Brian Shortsleeve, who joined the Boston-based Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority last year in a newly created role as chief administrative officer, was named to the added post of interim general manager, effective July 1. He will replace General Manager Frank DePaola, who is retiring following a cancer diagnosis last year. DePaola, formerly assistant general manager for design and construction, took the top role in March 2015, after Beverly Scott resigned in the wake of transit-system problems during a major snowstorm. Shortsleeve, former managing director of a Boston venture-capital firm, was hired to “untangle the finances of a transit system $5.5 billion in debt and facing a $7 billion maintenance backlog,” said The Boston Globe. MBTA says Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Gonneville will take “added responsibilities” but was not clear on the status of a search for a permanent successor..