Mendez Confirmed as FHWA Chief

The Senate has approved former Arizona Dept. of Transportation Director Victor M. Mendez as the new head of the Federal Highway Administration. Mendez, who was confirmed as FHWA Administrator on July 10, joined Arizona DOT (ADOT) in 1985 as a transportation engineer and in 2001 was named ADOT director.

Photo: Arizona DOT

Mendez led Arizona DOT from 2001 until February 2009

He held the top ADOT post until February, when he and other state agency heads left when Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer [R] became governor.

Mendez also played a role in the Obama transition on the agency review team for U.S. DOT.

FHWA also has a new deputy administrator, Gregory G. Nadeau, who has been Maine DOT's deputy commissioner for policy, planning and communications since 2002. Nadeau's appointment to the number-two FHWA position was announced July 1.

Before coming to Maine DOT, Nadeau spent seven years as senior policy advisor to then-Maine Gov. Angus King (Ind.) on issues such as transportation and economic development.

Tom Ichniowski has been writing about the federal government as ENR’s Washington Bureau Chief since the George H.W. Bush administration, and he has covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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