AASHTO Journal, 2 May 2014
District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray this week announced that Matthew Brown will take over as District Department of Transportation interim director, while Muhammed Khalid will serve as interim chief engineer. The in-house appointments come weeks after DDOT’s announcement that both Director Terry Bellamy and Chief Engineer Ronaldo “Nick” Nicholson would be stepping down at the end of the month (see related AASHTO Journal story here).
“Matt has a distinguished background in public service and has played a key role at DDOT for several years,” Gray said in a statement. “City Administrator Allen Lew has full confidence in Matt and the new leadership team assembled at DDOT. I’m confident DDOT will continue to move the ball forward and will continue its excellent work on the many transportation initiatives now underway.”
Brown has served as DDOT Deputy Director for Resource Management since 2011. Prior to that, Brown served as the managing director of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Office of Management and Budget Services, project manager with Public Financial Management, and has overseen public budget and finance issues in New York City and Milwaukee. Brown holds a Master of Public Administration in budget and public finance from George Washington University.
Khalid, now taking over as interim chief engineer, has most recently served as DDOT deputy chief engineer. He has spent almost three decades at DDOT and has been responsible for leading several major capital transportation projects. Khalid, a licensed Professional Engineer, holds a bachelor’s in civil engineering from George Washington University and has participated in a graduate studies program in structural engineering at the University of Virginia.
Gray also named Barry Kreiswirth as DDOT interim chief of staff and Jeffrey Powell as interim deputy director for operations.