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The Board of Directors of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has elected Russell R. McMurry, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation, as its 2025-2026 president. The board also selected Marc Williams, executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation, as its 2025-2026 vice president.
“AASHTO has been instrumental throughout my career, and I’m honored to serve as its president,” McMurry said. “State DOTs are essential to delivering a safe, efficient, multimodal transportation system, and I’m committed to supporting that work—especially as we prepare for the next federal surface transportation reauthorization. Together, we will continue focusing on reducing roadway fatalities and improving project delivery. I look forward to working with my colleagues in what will be a very important year.”
Originally joining Georgia DOT as an engineering intern in 1990, McMurry has held a variety of positions within the department including chief engineer. In 2015, he was appointed commissioner by a unanimous vote of the Georgia State Transportation Board and has served in the role for more than a decade. During that time, he has worked closely with AASHTO – previously serving as the organization’s vice president and treasurer and serving on numerous committees, most recently leading AASHTO’s Transportation Policy Forum.
Under McMurry’s direction, AASHTO will focus on what he deems going “back to the basics”: Advancing critical federal surface transportation funding through reauthorization; expanding efficiency in project delivery; and enhancing safety through technological enhancements. His presidential emphasis areas will specifically feature:
Reauthorization: AASHTO is working to support Congress in enacting a new long-term federal surface transportation bill that reauthorizes the federal highway, highway safety, transit, and rail programs before the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). To advocate for those goals, AASHTO will urge Congress to refocus the federal transportation program around formula funding and strategically deploying discretionary grants and coordinate with industry partners to help “connect the dots” with members of Congress on the role and importance of the formula programs to advance projects in every congressional district across this nation.
Project Delivery: AASHTO will focus on finding opportunities to expand efficiency in project delivery to help bring projects to communities in a timely manner. This includes supporting the delegation of federal authorities to interested states, working with Congress and the Administration to implement Build America, Buy America in a strategic way, and developing tools to assist in co-location and collaboration of federal resource agencies involved in reviewing environmental documents.
Safety: AASHTO’s core mission — and the heart of every transportation project and program — is safety. Through the next year, AASHTO will support state DOTs in their work to leverage technological advancements, establish new partnerships and strengthen existing ones to further promote a nationwide culture of safety and support evolving strategies for addressing safety issues related to all elements of a safe transportation system.
As newly elected AASHTO vice president, Williams will join McMurry to elevate these issues. Williams has served as the executive director of Texas Department of Transportation since 2021 but joined TxDOT as director of planning in 2012. Throughout his career, he has taken on leadership positions in both the public and private sector that are dedicated to the planning, development and implementation of infrastructure projects. Williams graduated from Texas A&M University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering and is a registered professional engineer in Texas.
“I am grateful to serve as AASHTO vice president alongside Russell and support his call to focus on things that will help state DOTs deliver a safer, more efficient transportation system,” Williams said. “From working to reauthorize the IIJA to boosting safety and improving project delivery, I look forward to partnering on these critical issues impacting all levels of transportation.”
AASHTO Executive Director Jim Tymon praised the election of McMurry and Williams for their long-standing commitment to AASHTO and their dedication to building a stronger transportation network for the future.
“Russell McMurry and Marc Williams have long been leaders within AASHTO and have done so much already to support their state DOT colleagues across the country,” Tymon said. “In their new roles, we can only expect more of that exceptional leadership, strong collaboration with colleagues and industry partners, and action as we look toward a federal surface transportation reauthorization, continue to address safety challenges on our roadways, and find ways to enhance project delivery to make a difference in communities across the country.”