CAMBRIDGE, MA The U.S. Department of Transportation selects Anne Aylward, a longtime Senior Official at the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as the research organization's Director.

Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Greg Winfree said in the department's Fast Lane blog that Aylward has worked at the center more than 20 years and "co-led Volpe efforts on numerous high-visibility priorities, including Beyond Traffic, NextGen and the first National Freight Strategic Plan."

The previous Director, Robert Johns, left at the end of December after six years at the center's helm.

Winfree described Aylward as a "nationally recognized expert in intermodal transportation with decades of experience in planning, policy and research management."

Volpe's own announcement said she is the center's seventh permanent director and the first woman to hold the position.

"The strength of Volpe as a leader in national transportation research is the amazing people who work here," said Aylward. "We support the cutting-edge work of DOT agencies and many others in improving the efficiency and safety of planes, trains, cars, trucks, pipelines and water vessels across America. But all of our work comes back to our people, and it is an honor for me to have the opportunity to lead them."

Volpe describes itself as a fee-for service organization under the USDOT that operates several centers conducting nearly $300 million in annual research and technology projects for federal, state, local, international and other organizations with transportation-related missions.

Previously, Aylward was Director of Volpe's Center for Transportation Policy and Planning, and acting director of the Center for Advanced Transportation Technologies.

Before joining Volpe's management team, she managed the transportation planning practice of EG&G, a division of the URS Corp. From 1976 to 1993, she worked for the Massachusetts Port Authority, including 10 years as director of the Port of Boston.

She has also chaired the American Association of Port Authorities, and was Executive Director of the National Commission on Intermodal Transportation. She served two terms on the National Academy of Sciences Marine Board and is a member of several Transportation Research Board freight and intermodal committees.