The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recently appointed new leaders to several of its committees and councils.
[Above image by AASHTO]
Joel Jundt – secretary of the South Dakota Department of Transportation – will serve a two-year term as chair of the AASHTO Council on Highways and Streets.
Named secretary of the South Dakota DOT in March 2021, Jundt – a native of Rapid City – graduated from South Dakota School of Mines in 1985 with a degree in civil engineering.
He’s spent his entire engineering career with the South Dakota DOT, starting as a road design engineer and working his way up to be Rapid City region and operations engineer, director of planning and engineering, and deputy secretary.
Jared Perdue, secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation, will serve a two-year term as chair of the AASHTO Council on Aviation.
A more than 20-year veteran of the department, Perdue was named Florida DOT secretary in 2022.
During his career at Florida DOT, he’s played integral roles in both operations and development where he has held positions as district geotechnical engineer, district traffic operations engineer, district design engineer, and as secretary of Florida DOT’s District Five.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from The Citadel.
Paul Wiedefeld, secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation, will serve a two-year term as chair of the AASHTO Council on Public Transportation.
Named Maryland DOT secretary in January 2023, Wiedefeld previously served as the general manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. He also served as executive director of Baltimore/Washington International Airport and administrator of the Maryland Transit Administration – which are two of the six transportation agencies under the purview of the Maryland DOT.
Ron Henke, director of the North Dakota Department of Transportation, will serve a two-year term as chair of the AASHTO Committee on Construction.
A more than 30-year veteran of the North Dakota DOT, Henke was appointed director of the agency in October 2022.
He’s served in a variety of roles during his career at North Dakota DOT, including as deputy director of engineering, director of operations and project development, as well as other capacities including design, construction, planning and programming.
A North Dakota native, Henke earned bachelor degrees in construction management and construction engineering from North Dakota State University.
Calvin Reed, secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation, will serve a two-year term as chair of the AASHTO Committee on Right of Way, Utilities, and Outdoor Advertising Controls, which is known as “CRUO.”
Reed, a more than 20-year veteran of the department, was named secretary of Kansas DOT in 2022 and has served in a variety of roles during his career at the agency, including director of the agency’s Division of Engineering and Design as well as bureau chief of structures and geotechnical services.
He holds both a bachelor’s and master’s in civil engineering from Kansas State University.
Florentina “Tina” Samartinean – administrator for employee and business development at the Arizona Department of Transportation – will serve a two-year term as chair of the AASHTO Committee on Civil Rights.
Samartinean, who joined Arizona DOT in 2012, currently oversees employee development programs, technical training, workplace learning, leadership and professional development, as well as business and workforce development initiatives for Arizona DOT, including the agency’s external Civil Rights programs.
She holds a bachelor’s in public administration and a master’s in leadership from Grand Canyon University in Arizona. Originally from Transylvania, she is fluent in Romanian and has called Arizona home since 1999.
Concurrently, David DeLuz – deputy director for the Office of Civil Rights at the California Department of Transportation – will serve a two-year term as vice chair of the AASHTO Committee on Civil Rights.
DeLuz previously served as the director of strategic initiatives for the California School Boards Association; as president and CEO of the Greater Sacramento Urban League; and as a deputy appointments secretary and then as a chief community liaison and assistant director of California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
He holds a bachelor’s in broadcast journalism from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; a master’s in public policy and administration from California State University-Sacramento; and a master’s in politics from the Claremont Graduate University.
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