Marie Therese Dominguez, Esq.

Commissioner, New York State Department of Transportation

Marie Therese Dominguez was confirmed as New York State Transportation Commissioner on June 20, 2019. She has worked in the transportation, water and energy infrastructure, safety and logistics sectors for more than 25 years, having served in numerous executive leadership positions within the Federal government and private sector.

As Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) she leads DOT’s team of 8,520 professionals responsible for planning, designing, constructing, operating, maintaining and renewing the statewide transportation systems that are critical to New York’s global economic competitiveness and which encompass more than 113,000 highway lane miles; 17,400 bridges; a 3,500 mile passenger and freight rail network; 485 public and private aviation facilities; 12 major public and private seaports and 120 municipal sponsored public transportation operators. In addition, she oversees DOT’s statewide operations and maintenance of approximately 40,000 highway lane miles and more than 7,400 bridges for snow and ice control and response to extreme weather events. As part of DOT’s critical mission, she works to coordinate New York’s statewide emergency response functions for transportation and logistics for all manner of emergency operations including flooding, natural disasters, snow and ice, and COVID-19. With safety as DOT’s guiding principal, she also leads the team of DOT professionals ensuring the safety of the traveling public through the administration of statewide bridge, rail, bus and truck safety assurance and inspection programs.

Prior to coming to New York, Dominguez was nominated by President Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) at the U.S. Department of Transportation. At PHMSA, Ms. Dominguez managed the development and enforcement of safety regulations and oversaw safety operations for the nation’s interstate gas and liquid pipelines as well as all hazardous materials shipments by rail, highway, sea and air. Prior to leading PHMSA, she served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works at the U.S. Department of Defense, overseeing policy and budget direction for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She has also served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Counsel at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and as Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton for White House Personnel. In the private sector, she built a management consulting practice for Serco International focusing on change management in the post-911 environment. Ms. Dominguez obtained her J.D. from Villanova University School of Law and her B.A. in American Studies from Smith College.