COLLEGE STATION, TX Following an extensive national search, The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents has appointed former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation Gregory D. Winfree, J.D., as Agency Director for the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI).

Winfree joined USDOT's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology in March 2010 as Chief Counsel and was later sworn in as the Assistant Secretary in January 2014. During his tenure, Winfree also served as Deputy Administrator and Administrator of a predecessor agency, the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). 

As Assistant Secretary, he was the senior executive responsible for a $450 million budget and oversaw more than 1,000 scientific, data analysis and administrative staff members who support USDOT's multi-modal transportation initiatives. The program offices under his purview included:  the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center; the Research, Development and Technology Coordination Office; the Bureau of Transportation Statistics; the Positioning, Navigation, Timing and Spectrum Management Office; the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office; and the Transportation Safety Institute.

Prior to his USDOT appointments, Winfree served as Corporate Counsel for several Fortune 500 corporations operating in a number of technical industries, including natural resources and metals; pharmaceuticals; and chemicals and polymers. Prior to his corporate legal work, Winfree was a Trial Attorney in the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. He started his legal career as an Associate at a prominent Washington, D.C.-based law firm.

Winfree earned a B.S. degree from St. John's University and a J.D. from Georgetown University. He is an avid motorcycle rider and has cruised U.S. highways from coast to coast on many occasions.