Operations Academy Senior Management Program Graduate Confirmed Commissioner of New Hampshire DOT

Left to right: Phil Tarnoff, Founder and Principal of the Operations Academy; Chris Clement, October 2009 Operations Academy Graduate and New Commissioner of New Hampshire DOT; Jeff Paniati, Executive Director, FHWA

Chris Clement, a 2009 graduate of the Operations Academy Senior Management Program, was confirmed as the Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation on September 14, 2011!

Since the first session was offered in March 2007, a total of 150 participants representing 29 different states have graduated from this prestigious program.  The Operations Academy Senior Management Program is a two-week, total immersion transportation management and operations program that was developed by the Center for Advanced Transportation Technology (CATT) at the University of Maryland.  The program uses a mix of classroom lectures, workshops, working field trips and presentations by nationally recognized guest speakers to ensure the retention of the principles presented.  The academy provides opportunities to practice and internalize the principles learned which is not possible in traditional classes and short courses.  The completion of this program represents a significant accomplishment for each participant.   The Program is  intended for mid to high level managers whose current or future responsibilities include transportation management and operations. 

Phil Tarnoff, Founder and Principal of the Operations Academy Program, stated, “It is well known that the primary objective of the Operations Academy is to develop a pool of trained Management and Operations talent for the public agencies within the surface transportation sector.  A second, less well known objective is that graduates of the Academy, who appreciate the many benefits of management and operations, will move up and eventually assume leadership positions within the industry.  In these high level positions, Academy graduates would be in a position to influence the future directions of the nation’s transportation agencies. These hopes and forecasts have come to fruition earlier than anyone might have imagined with the confirmation of Chris Clement as the Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation.  From our association with Chris during the Operations Academy program, it is clear that his promotion was well deserved.  It is significant that we now have a Management and Operations proponent at the top of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. “

Chris Clement is not alone in his success since graduating from the Operations Academy Program.  Other graduates have also received significant promotions.  Those that we are aware of include:

• Dennis Motiani, November 2007 Graduate, promoted to Executive Director of Statewide Traffic Operations for the New Jersey Department of Transportation
• David Peake, October 2010 Graduate, appointed to Maryland State Highway Administration’s Metropolitan District Engineer for District 4 (Baltimore and Hartford Counties)
• Denise India, September 2008 Graduate, appointed to the newly created position of Chief Traffic Operations Engineer for the State of Nevada
• Douglas Tomlinson, September 2008 Graduate, promoted to Division Chief of the ITS Division within the Bureau of Highway Safety and Traffic Engineering at Pennsylvania DOT

Mr. Tarnoff also stated, “We hope that their experience at the Operations Academy, at least in part, contributed to their success and that they will carry the Management and Operations banner in their new careers.”

For more information about the Operations Academy, visit them on the web at: www.operationsacademy.org.

About CATT
The Center for Advanced Transportation Technology (CATT) in the A. James Clark School of Engineering Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, was created in order to respond to the significant changes brought about by the increasing use of advanced technologies in the transportation field. A permanent staff of ITS professionals and affiliated faculty of the Department of Civil Engineering supports CATT. All offer extensive knowledge and experience in the areas of ITS technology, traffic engineering and control, systems analysis, and operations research. Visit CATT on the web at www.catt.umd.edu.

October 11, 2011