Nuria I. Fernandez

While studying at Bradley, Fernandez interned with the Panama Canal Company and the company hired her after graduating, in the engineering division of the Panama Canal's Gatún Locks.^[7] Afterward, Fernandez worked for the Chicago Department of Public Works (1983–1990) and CTA (1990-1993),^[2]: 34 where she planned and coordinated $1 billion in improvements to O'Hare International Airport. In addition, she was the special assistant to the assistant secretary for budget and programs at DOT (1993–1994) and the assistant general manager at WMATA (1994–1997), where she designed and oversaw construction of the $2.1 billion Metrorail extension project. In 1997, President Bill Clinton appointed her to be the FTA deputy administrator;^[5] Fernandez became the acting Administrator after Gordon Linton stepped down in 1999.^[8] Clinton nominated her to be the next Administrator in 2000,^[5][9] and she appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on May 11.^[2] Her nomination was returned to the president in December 2000.^[10]

After her first stint at the FTA, Fernandez joined private engineering consulting firms Earth Tech (based in Long Beach, California)^[11] and CH2M (based in Englewood, Colorado). There she worked on projects in Panama, including program management for the Panama Canal Authority and updates to the country's public transit plan.^[3] Fernandez served as the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation from April 2006 to April 2008, when she resigned. At the time, the resignation was regarded as a consequence of failing to close a deal with United Airlines and American Airlines for a second round of expansions at O'Hare, as well as numerous flight delays and cancellations during her tenure.^[12]

During the starts of the Obama and Biden administrations, Fernandez was considered for appointment as the United States Secretary of Transportation.^[13] Fernandez was appointed as MTA COO by Governor Andrew Cuomo in October 2011 alongside MTA chair Joseph Lhota.^[14] She left the MTA to lead the VTA in 2013.^[4] Under her leadership, VTA partnered with Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to build the Silicon Valley BART extension, continuing the lines from their prior terminus in Fremont, California to San Jose.^[3] From 2019 to 2020, Fernandez also served as the chair of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).^[15]

In January 2021, the FTA announced that Fernandez had been appointed as deputy Administrator,^[16] where she would serve as the acting Administrator^[17] until she was confirmed in the Senate by voice vote on June 10, 2021.^[18] Coincidentally, her hearing before the same Senate Banking Committee was held exactly twenty-one years after her first hearing for the nomination to FTA Administrator by Clinton.^[10][18] Fernandez was the first FTA Administrator confirmed by the Senate since Peter Rogoff, in May 2009;^[17] Prior to Fernandez, the most recent acting Administrator was K. Jane Williams, who had been acting since January 3, 2020 after the nomination of Thelma Drake was returned.^[19]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nuria Fernandez (administrator).

• Nuria Fernandez biography at Federal Transit Administration
• "Nomination Hearing". United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. May 11, 2021.