Russell McMurry, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation and the 2025–2026 president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, recently participated in the “Men Supporting Women in Transportation” session at the 2026 WTS International Conference May 5-7 in Los Angeles, CA.
[Above photo by AASHTO]
Moderated by Bridgette Beato, chair of the WTS International board, the panel featured McMurry; Randy Clarke, CEO of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority; Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles; and Ricky Smith, general manager of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
As female leadership at the CEO level continues to grow among state departments of transportation, McMurry expressed enthusiasm for the women leading the transportation field and for increased representation at all levels of the industry.
“From the AASHTO point of view, this is an all-time high for women CEOs,” he said. “At the state level, the highest number of women we have [at Georgia DOT] is in maintenance and construction. We have more women in engineering than ever before.”
Echoing McMurry’s sentiment, Seroka highlighted the importance of having female voices in the room. “If we walk into a room and we all look alike, we feel uncomfortable,” he stressed. “We want to look at diversity and have it look like the city of Los Angeles.”
Having spent his entire career at the Georgia DOT, McMurry underscored the importance of executives like himself bringing strong talent forward from one position to the next.
“It is not how high up you go as a leader but how many people you bring along as you move up,” he pointed out. “Our agency is as lean as we’ve ever been and doing more than ever before. Most people can’t see past the opportunities in front of them.”
Highlighting the importance of seizing opportunities, Smith encouraged women to put themselves forward for roles across the transportation sector. “Women should pursue non-traditional opportunities because we are looking for that talent,” said Smith. “You have to build the pool.”
When discussing the value of mentoring and sponsorship, Clarke emphasized the importance of leveraging professional networks to support and advance women’s careers.
“The value of building a network is to use the network,” he emphasized. “The best compliment is when someone comes to you and says that I am taking a new opportunity and you helped me get that opportunity.”
