| Mary Peters | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office September 30, 2006 |
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| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Norman Mineta |
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| Born | December 4 1948 Phoenix, Arizona |
| Political party | Republican |
Mary E. Peters (b. December 4, 1948) is the United States Secretary of Transportation. She is the second woman and first Arizonan to hold the position.
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Early life
Mary Peters was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and earned her bachelor's degree in management from University of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona.
Public service career
Mary Peters joined the Arizona Department of Transportation in 1985,and was appointed by Gov. Jane Dee Hull to serve as its director from 1998 to 2001. After George W. Bush was elected president, she left for Washington and started to work for the Federal Government as the Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. She worked in that capacity until 2005. In 2006, President Bush appointed Peters as the Co-Vice Chairwoman of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission.[1]
Arizona Gubernatorial election speculation
In 2005, there was speculation that Peters, who has said repeatedly that she always intended to be a candidate for governor, would run for that office in 2006. At the time she said that, while she believed she would have been a strong candidate, and was eligible to run despite having lived and registered to vote in Virginia, the issue would have been a distraction from the race.[2][3]
Private sector career
From November, 2005 until her confirmation as Transportation Secretary, Peters served as the Senior Vice President and National Director of Transportation Policy and Consulting in the Phoenix office of HDR, Inc., an Omaha, Nebraska-based architectural, engineering, and consulting firm.
Transportation Secretary
On September 5, 2006, Bush nominated Peters to replace Norman Mineta as Secretary of Transportation. The nomination came as Congress returned from its recess and nearly two months after Mineta's July 7, 2006 resignation, since which time Maria Cino acted in the office.[4] Peters was confirmed on September 29, 2006 by the United States Senate.[5],[6]
Policies
Peters is an advocate of private investment in U.S. public roads and of user fees for building new highways. In an interview, Peters said that the National Highway System will run out of money by decade's end without substantial changes and, rather than raise taxes, some states are turning to toll roads already to fill gaps. In an interview with PBS on August 15, 2007, she said that riding a bike is not a form of transportation.[7] "You just can't depend on the federal government to bring the money in that was around when the interstate system was first built," Peters said.[8]
Personal life
Mary Peters was born on December 4, 1948, in Phoenix, Arizona. Her grandmother was the chief clerk of the Arizona House of Representatives for 27 years, and her grandfather was a rancher and miner. She married Terry Peters (an ex-Marine) in July 1966, and have three adult children and five grandchildren.[5] In 1968, they moved to his home state of Indiana, where she worked as a variety of jobs, including a day care, meat packing facility, and tax preparation service. The family moved back to Arizona in 1984 to be near their aging parents. [9]
Chairmanships, Memberships, and Honors
- Chaired the Highway Expansion Loan Program Advisory Board
- Chaired the Standing Committee on Planning and the Asset Management Task Force for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
- Member of the AASHTO 2001 Reauthorization Steering Committee
- Served on the board of directors for the Arizona Quality Alliance
- Served on the board of directors for the Intelligent Transportation Society of America
- Served on the board of directors for Project Challenge
- Served on the board of directors for Women Executives in State Government
- Member of the Governor's Diversity Advisory Council
- Member of the Greater Arizona Development Authority
- Received the ARTBA Award
- Member of Women's Transportation Seminar
References
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/05/AR2006090500514.html
- ^ http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2005/09/26/daily59.html
- ^ http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,645198978,00.html
- ^ http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060905-5.html
- ^ a b Official biography from the Department of Transportation
- ^ Confirmation of the U.S. Senate on September 29, 2006
- ^ http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/08/17/secretary-peters-says-bikes-are-not-transportation/
- ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060905/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/transportation_secretary
- ^ [1]
External links
- DOT – official bio
- Biography at the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission
| Preceded by Norman Mineta |
United States Secretary of Transportation Served Under: George W. Bush 2006 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Alphonso Jackson |
United States Presidential Line of Succession 11th in line |
Succeeded by Samuel Bodman |
| Preceded by Alphonso Jackson |
United States order of precedence as of 2007 |
Succeeded by Samuel Bodman |
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| Boyd • Volpe • Brinegar • Coleman • Adams • Goldschmidt • Lewis • Dole • Burnley • Skinner • Card • Peña • Slater • Mineta • Peters |  |
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| (c) cabinet-level only, (a) acting |
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Peters, Mary E. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | 15th United States Secretary of Transportation |
| DATE OF BIRTH | |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Arizona, United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
