AASHTO Journal, 7 August 2015
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory announced Aug. 6 that he had appointed Nick Tennyson as secretary of the state Department of Transportation, effective immediately.
TennysonA former two-term mayor of Durham, Tennyson had been NCDOT’s chief deputy secretary since March 2013, and became acting secretary July 28 with that day’s resignation of former secretary Tony Tata.
“Nick Tennyson is the perfect choice to continue the momentum we have made in North Carolina’s transportation strategy,” said the governor. “He has been involved in planning all of our key transportation strategies over the last two and half years, and is equipped to hit the ground running to continue our progress.”
Tennyson was Durham’s mayor from 1997 to 2001, and was executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange and Chatham counties from 1995 until 2013 when he was appointed NCDOT’s deputy secretary.
McCrory cited Tennyson’s experience in making him the agency’s permanent CEO, including his mayoral terms during what the governor said were “some challenging times” for the state’s transportation system. And, McCrory said, “he served on the Metropolitan Planning Organization for his region, which often tackled transportation issues.”
Tennyson said: “We’ve accomplished many great things over the past 32 months with our incredible NCDOT team, and we look forward to continuing that momentum to better connect North Carolina and provide a safe and reliable transportation network for our citizens.”