The editors of ENR have chosen Mary Jane O’Meara as ENR New England’s 2020 Legacy Award winner. The vice president of HNTB's national toll group will be profiled in the March 2021 issue of ENR New England. 

ENR New England's Legacy Award award is given annually to an individual in the region who has established a solid “legacy” of lifetime service to the construction industry, their colleagues and to their community. ENR New England includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Prior to joining HNTB in 2011 to lead the firm’s Boston office, O’Meara spent most of her career in the public sector. After starting her career as a consultant for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the Massachusetts Port Authority hired her as operations manager for the Tobin Bridge. She was later promoted to director of the bridge–a post she held for 18 years. She has also been active in the International Bridge, Tunnel & Turnpike Association, where she has served as president, as a board member and on numerous committees.

O’Meara also founded and chaired, for 20 years, the New England Toll Association, which fostered cooperation among the region’s toll authorities to implement unified electronic toll collection systems.

Most recently, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association honored O’Meara with the Ethel S. Birchland Lifetime Achievement Award “for her 40-plus year commitment to the transportation industry, including the advancement of female leadership.”

As a longtime, active member of Women’s Transportation Seminar, O’Meara served as Boston Chapter President, Boston Chapter Board and WTS International president. In 2015, O’Meara was featured in the book, Boots on the Ground, Flats in the Boardroom: Transportation Women Tell Their Stories.