Victor Mendez

Administrator

On July 17, 2009, Victor Mendez became the Federal Highway Administrator—the 18th person to hold the position.

Previously, Mr. Mendez served as Director of the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). Starting with ADOT in 1985 as an engineer, he became Director in November 2001 after serving four months as its Acting Director. As Director, Mr. Mendez worked to improve the agency's customer service in both its highway and motor vehicle divisions. Under his leadership, ADOT built the Regional Freeway System in the Phoenix area six years ahead of schedule and consistently delivered statewide construction programs on time.

In 2006, Mr. Mendez was elected president of both the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, its national counterpart. He chaired its Standing Committee on Research, the Operations Council of the Standing Committee on Highways, and the oversight group for the TRB Long-Term Pavement Performance program.

In the two years he served as ADOT's Deputy Director, from 1999-2001, his leadership resulted in major infrastructure improvements throughout the state. His 24-year career at ADOT, where he implemented innovations in management, funding and financing, research and technology, infrastructure and planning, will serve him well as the nation's top federal highway official.

Mr. Mendez earned a civil engineering degree from the University of Texas at El Paso and later earned an MBA from Arizona State University. Before joining ADOT in 1985 as a transportation engineer, Mr. Mendez worked for the U.S. Forest Service as an engineer in Oregon. In the years that followed, Mr. Mendez was named deputy state engineer with ADOT's Valley Transportation Group, where he provided leadership for the Phoenix area's multi-billion dollar valley freeway system.