PROVIDENCE – Gov. Donald L. Carcieri has named Jerome F. Williams, executive director of the Department of Administration, as the next director of the state Department of Transportation. Williams brings significant management, administration, and financial experience to his new role at the DOT.
“Jerry Williams has been a tremendously effective leader at the Department of Administration, and I am very pleased to nominate him to lead the Department of Transportation,” Carcieri said.
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“In his current role at the Department of Administration, and in his prior experience in both the public and private sectors, Jerry has excelled,” the governor said. “He has significant financial experience administering large and complex contracts and managing complicated budgets.
“With an annual budget of $350 million, the DOT is responsible for the state’s infrastructure and intermodal transportation systems. This is an agency that requires a leader who can manage multifaceted contracts and complicated financial issues,” Carcieri said. “Jerry is someone that I can count on to continue the success that the DOT has enjoyed over the past four years, under Jim Capaldi, in moving our state’s roads and rail systems forward.”
“With the relocation of Route 195 – the state’s largest construction project in history – on its way and several other major transportation projects currently under way, it is critical that we have Jerry’s leadership at DOT. He understands how to make things happen and solve problems.”
“Jerry has played a major role in achieving several notable successes during my first term,” Carcieri added. “He chaired the Pension Review Team, whose work helped to bring about pension reform that is saving taxpayers more than $40 million annually, and he led a team that developed a new system that has dramatically improved our system of auditing financial statements. Jerry was also responsible for reviving the plans for the new Training School. That project is currently under construction and remains on schedule and under budget.”
As executive director of the DOA since 2003, Williams has been responsible for the department’s seven operating units: accounting, internal auditing, taxation, facilities management, capital projects, sheriffs and the Capitol Police. He previously served as the department’s deputy director, from 1991 to 1994.
He also served as Rhode Island’s deputy general treasurer from 1986 to 1991 and as town treasurer of Barrington from 1979 to 1986.
And he serves on a number of boards and commissions. He is chairman of the State Properties Committee, a commissioner for the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, a member of the state Retirement Board, a member of Retirement Boards’ Disability Subcommittee, and chairman of the Woonsocket Pension Investment Board.
For his work in the public sector, Williams was honored with the 2006 the Robert M. Goodrich Award for Distinguished Public Service, from the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC).
Williams also has experience in the private sector, including his tenure as senior vice president for FleetBoston Financial from 1994 to 2003.
A resident of Barrington, he holds an MBA with a concentration in accounting and dual bachelor’s degrees, in accounting and institutional management, all from Bryant University.
