November - December 2007
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Career Moves |
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VDOTer in Profile
Career Moves
Salehi New Northern Virginia District Administrator
Salehi
Commissioner Ekern recently announced the appointment of Morteza Salehi as Northern Virginia’s district administrator. Salehi has been with VDOT for more than 18 years.
He served as acting Northern Virginia district administrator since late July, when Dennis Morrison retired. Prior to that, he served as VDOT’s Culpeper District administrator and held other VDOT leadership positions.
“My goal is to provide is to provide effective leadership and support for the staff so that we achieve the great challenges of the Northern Virginia District,” said Salhei. ”This includes meeting high customer expectation, addressing congestion and improving mobility, and effectively managing large maintenance and construction projects including I-495 HOT Lanes and other ‘mega projects’.”
As district administrator, Salhei will direct approximately 1,000 employees and be responsible for more than 4,000 miles of roads in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties. His staff also supports highway functions in nine cities and towns in the district.
He will direct VDOT staff and consultants involved in the development of the I-495 and I-95/395 High Occupancy Toll lane projects, as well as several billion-dollar “mega” transportation projects in the Northern Virginia area.
He will also serve as our representative to the new Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Transportation Planning Board.
Getting to Know Rob Cary, Lynchburg’s New District Administrator
Cary
Rob Cary, P.E., took the reigns as Lynchburg District administrator in early November.
He says he has enjoyed getting to know staff in the Lynchburg District and discovering “a group of dedicated professionals who enthusiastically go about their work every day to make the lives of their neighbors better.”
Cary, a 15-year VDOT veteran, previously served as the assistant Salem District engineer for preliminary engineering and replaced Dale Grigg who retired in October.
“I love my job and what VDOT does for people every day, said Cary. “I enjoy working with the people around me to find solutions to whatever challenge we are facing. I believe in using the experiences and expertise of the people I work with to develop the best solutions we can.”
He’s already has ideas for where he wants to take the Lynchburg District, but most importantly he wants “Lynchburg to be recognized by the people we serve and by our fellow VDOT employees as leaders in community service, innovative, common sense solutions and as the model for efficient operations.”
Outside of the office, Cary enjoys reading. He said, “I follow college football very closely, and enjoy photography, especially of my family and their activities.”
Hope Joins Bristol District as Human Resources Manager
Connie Hope is now serving as the district human resources manager for the Bristol District.
Connie comes to VDOT with 11 years of leadership experience at the University at Virginia’s College at Wise, where she served as the director of human resources.
She also previously served in several human resource functions in private industry.
Connie holds a bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree from the University of Virginia.
Babish Tapped to Lead Materials Division
:
Babish
Andy Babish, formerly the Richmond District materials engineer, has been named state materials engineer.
Babish will oversee the assessment of highway construction materials and the application of innovative engineering for the agency.
This includes sampling, inspection, field-testing of materials used in construction and maintenance, subsurface investigations and pavement design.
Babish’s new office is located at the Central Office’s Elko Materials Lab location in Sandston.
He has a master’s degree in civil engineering with a specialization in geotechnical engineering from Virginia Tech.
He also holds his bachelor's in civil engineering technology from Bluefield State College.
He is a licensed professional engineer, and also achieved his associate level certification in project management through ESI International in conjunction with George Mason University.
Also Making Career Moves
- George Bezold from engineering technician II to engineering technician IV, Lexington Residency
- Kellie Bonner from agency recognition coordinator, Statewide Services, Human Resources, to benefits and transactions team leader, Human Resources, Central Office
- Curtis Boyd from engineer I to engineering manager II, Staunton District
- Cheryl Denton from engineering office technician, Harrisonburg Residency, to construction voucher voordinator, Staunton District
- Wade Feller from transportation operations manager I, Toms Brook Area Headquarters, to transportation operations manager II, Mount Jackson Area Headquarters
- Charlotte Haney from general accounting manager, Fiscal Division, Central Office, to special assistant to the inspector general, Central Office
- Glenn Kisling from transportation operator II to transportation operations manager I in the Harrisonburg Residency
- Gary Little engineering technician III to engineer I, Staunton District
- Ron Marker from assistant division administration, Investigation Division, to division director in Central Office
- Michael Painter from engineering technician I to engineering technician III, Harrisonburg Residency
- Mike Russell, P.E., from location and design engineer to assistant district engineer for preliminary engineering, Salem District
- Gary L Simmons from transportation operator II to transportation operations manager I, McDowell Area Headquarters
- Darin Simpson, P.E. from assistant residency administrator, Charlottesville Residency, to the Northwestern Region operations construction engineer
- John M. Wandless from engineering technician III to general administration supervisor/coordinator II, Regional Operations Office, Staunton District
- Keith P. Weakley, P.E. from assistant district structure and bridge engineer to structure and bridge engineer, Staunton District.
Professional Notes
- Bill Ceccolini, land acquisition and property management agent, Staunton District, received his Member of the Appraisal Institute designation.
- Brian Diefenderfer, Ph.D., research scientist, Research Council, passed the professional engineer’s exam.
- Stacey Diefenderfer, research scientist, Research Council, passed the professional engineer’s exam.
- Jim Pullin, land acquisition and property management agent, Staunton District, achieved his license as a Virginia Certified General Appraiser.
- F. Tina Willis, district team lead, Programming, graduated from Central Michigan University with a master’s degree in public administration.
