Since 1980, have all heads of your state DOT been college-educated?

[J N Winkler]

My inspiration for this thread is the parallel one dealing with McClatchy's reporting on I-66, I-69, and I-73:  some follow-up Googling turned up the fact that Bill Nighbert, the KyTC secretary who was indicted but acquitted for bid-rigging, apparently had no college degree.  Carol Molnau, the MnDOT commissioner on whose watch the I-35W bridge collapsed, also had no college degree.  Per the Wikipedia article on educational attainment in the US, 30.44% of Americans 25 and over currently have a bachelor's degree.

I am interested to see how common it actually is for the CEO of a state DOT not to have at least a four-year college degree.  I am also interested in examples of successful agency heads with just a high-school diploma, as I feel the two examples above give a skewed impression of the leadership qualities of people in this demographic category.

Kansas DOT, as far as I know, has had no secretaries after 1980 who did not have college degrees going into post, but I have not been able to nail down CV details for some of the earlier appointees.  The current secretary (Mike King) has a BS in construction science, the previous one (Deb Miller) had a KSU BA in sociology, and the one before that (E. Dean Carlson) had a BSCE (University of Nebraska, I think).  Horace B. Edwards, who was KDOT secretary in the 1980's (first African-American in that role), got his engineering degree from Marquette University in 1946.  For Michael Johnston (KDOT secretary 1991-94, currently KTA CEO) I have no information.

[roadfro]

Can't speak way back to 1980, but I'm pretty sure most of the directors of Nevada DOT since the early 90's have had bachelor's degrees in addition to their PE status.

[NE2]

All goats in Alanland have college degrees, despite never attending high school.

[WarrenWallace]

Heck, the governor of Wisconsin doesn't have a college degree!

[DaBigE]

IMO, Real world experience trumps a degree almost every time. A framed sheet of paper does not guarantee they'll be any good. Lest we forget that some of the country's most successful business people are college drop-outs. Our last Transportation Secretary was the head of the Teamsters Union...no PE or engineering background. While he was a politician, at least our current Transportation Secretary is a licensed PE and has an engineering background (as well as the Deputy Secretary).

[vdeane]

Lest we forget that some of the country's most successful business people are college drop-outs.

And most of the rest of the people who don't get a Bachelor's degree are flipping burgers at McDonalds.

[agentsteel53]

Lest we forget that some of the country's most successful business people are college drop-outs.

And most of the rest of the people who don't get a Bachelor's degree are flipping burgers at McDonalds.

so are those that get a bachelor's degree in Alanology or something equally devoid of real-world application.

[kphoger]

Lest we forget that some of the country's most successful business people are college drop-outs.

And most of the rest of the people who don't get a Bachelor's degree are flipping burgers at McDonalds.

so are those that get a bachelor's degree in Alanology or something equally devoid of real-world application.

= geography?  What other majors are out there with high rates of no-degree-required jobs held by graduates?

[agentsteel53]

= geography?  What other majors are out there with high rates of no-degree-required jobs held by graduates?

a lot of the humanities.  either you end up as a professor of the humanities, or you're working in some completely unrelated field.

[Alps]

In NJ, the commissioner is a political appointee, unlike most of the other top positions at the DOT and NJ Turnpike Authority (the commissioner technically presides over both, can't vouch for the SJTA). So really, it can be anyone who's good at politics within the organization - it could even be an outsider, but you won't get much loyalty from within the DOT unless you choose someone who's been there and is well connected inside the organization. We recently had a commissioner who worked his way up the ranks from the bottom of Maintenance (or some other non-degree-required department). A college degree doesn't seem like a requirement, but you better have some business acumen to run a multi-billion dollar agency.

[hbelkins]

In Kentucky, the state highway engineer has to be a PE. However, that position, along with secretary of the Transportation Cabinet and commissioner of the Department of Highways (or Aviation or any other department within KYTC), is a politically appointed position.

It's rare for the transportation secretary to come from within the agency. The current secretary is a PE and is a career employee. It's also infrequent that the SHE or the highway commissioner are career employees. There have been times that the SHE has served as the acting highway commissioner and the commissioner position has been left vacant.

In Nighbert's situation, he was a mayor, active in Republican politics in the 5th Congressional District, and former president of the Kentucky League of Cities who came to KYTC as director of Rural and Municipal Roads. This was a bit of a departure from past practice, because traditionally that position was filled by a former county judge-executive or someone else with a background in county government, not city government. The first secretary appointed in the Fletcher administration was retired military, but he left and Nighbert was promoted. It should be noted that all the allegations of improprieties in hiring occurred BEFORE Nighbert became KYTC secretary.

All goats in Alanland have college degrees, despite never attending high school.

So they have their GEDs? Goat Equivalency Diplomas?