AASHTO Announces FHWA’s Brandye Hendrickson as New Deputy Director
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Brandye Hendrickson, deputy administrator at the Federal Highway Administration, will be leaving her post and joining the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
AASHTO announced July 19 that Hendrickson will be serving as the group’s new deputy director, a position that the association had been seeking to fill since May.
In this role, Hendrickson will report to the executive director and help manage AASHTO’s internal and external affairs. Additionally, she will offer guidance to AASHTO’s board of directors, executive committee and council leaders. She’ll also serve as the group’s liaison between other entities, such as Congress, state legislatures, government agencies and other public groups.
AASHTO Taps FHWA’s Hendrickson As Its Deputy Director
AASHTO today announced that Brandye Hendrickson, the @USDOTFHWA deputy administrator, is joining the organization as its new deputy director on August 5. @brandye73https://t.co/bTT6UqmgHd pic.twitter.com/kZQeHewlVI — AASHTO (@aashtospeaks) July 18, 2019
“I am thrilled that someone with Brandye’s experience and leadership ability is joining the AASHTO team,” Jim Tymon, AASHTO’s executive director, said in a statement. “She has a deep knowledge of the challenges facing surface transportation and that knowledge is going to directly benefit AASHTO and our member departments of transportation.”
Hendrickson joined FHWA as deputy administrator in 2017 and served as acting administrator until Nicole Nason was sworn in as agency chief in May.
During her tenure at FHWA, Hendrickson oversaw grants that provided funds for a number of purposes, including transportation technology, disaster relief and user fee projects. In early February, FHWA announced $705 million in emergency relief funds to help 34 states and three territories rebuild infrastructure mangled by natural disasters. Later that month, the agency awarded over $10 million to seven states conducting projects to evaluate miles-based user fees and road user charges.
Hendrickson’s move to AASHTO marks a return to the world of state transportation leadership. Prior to joining FHWA, Hendrickson worked for the Indiana Department of Transportation for 10 years, including a two-year stint as the agency’s commissioner.
Hendrickson began working for INDOT in 2006 as deputy commissioner of human resources. She then became deputy commissioner, where she managed operations for the agency’s Greenfield district, which encompasses 4,375 lane miles of state roads, 1,133 bridges and the city of Indianapolis.
Prior to her FHWA appointment, she also served as a member of AASHTO’s board of directors and executive committee. The board of directors is the policymaking nucleus of the association. The group, made up primarily of state DOT chiefs, develops official positions on policy proposals, crafts policy statements and steers AASHTO’s strategic plan.
Hendrickson graduated from Indiana University with a degree in communications in 1995.
“I’m excited about continuing to serve the transportation community in this new role and joining such a great team at AASHTO,” Hendrickson said in a statement.
