Paula Hammond, a senior vice president in the Seattle office of Parsons Brinckerhoff, has been named to the board of directors of WTS International.
“WTS is a unique organization that promotes improvement in national and international transportation policy and programs, and provides a platform for the advancement of women in the transportation industry,” Hammond noted. “The WTS board provides leadership for the direction of the organization to accomplish effective strategies that achieve these goals. I have worked throughout my career to support, mentor, and promote women in transportation and I am proud to continue to contribute to this effort by helping shape the organization’s future direction.”
Hammond joined Parsons Brinckerhoff in September 2013 and serves as the firm’s national transportation market leader, responsible for working with transportation agencies across the nation to advance transportation policy and programs. She previously served as secretary of transportation for the state of Washington, responsible for all aspects of administration of an agency with 6,800 employees and an annual operating budget of $1.3 billion. Under her direction, the Washington State Department of Transportation was responsible for 20,000 lane-miles of state highways and tunnels; an inventory of 3,500 bridges; operation of the Northwest Cascades passenger rail service; as well as the Washington State Ferries, the nation’s largest ferry system.
Hammond has been a national figure on transportation issues, serving as an advisory committee member for the DOT’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Program and as a leader of numerous committees of AASHTO, including chair of the standing committee on highways, the high-speed and intercity passenger rail leadership group, and sustainable transportation steering committee. She also served as chair of the States for Passenger Rail Coalition and was a member of the executive committee of the Transportation Research Board.
Hammond received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 and Woman of the Year award in 2011 from the Puget Sound chapter of WTS. She was named a Top Ten Public Works Leader of the Year by the American Public Works Association in 2012 and was the recipient of the Washington State American Public Works Association Roy Morse Award in 2011.
