RSPA
05-03
March 31, 2003
Contacts: James Mitchell
Joe Delcambre
Tel.:
(202) 366-4831
publicaffairs@rspa.dot.gov
Samuel G. Bonasso Serving as Acting Administrator for USDOT’s RSPA
U.S. Transportation
Secretary Norman Y. Mineta today welcomed Samuel G. Bonasso as
acting
Administrator of RSPA, the Research and Special Programs Administration.
This comes on the departure of Administrator Ellen G. Engleman to become
Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
A former Secretary of Transportation for the state of West Virginia,
Bonasso was named RSPA Deputy Administrator on Nov. 11, 2002, and became acting
Administrator March 24.
“Sam
brings an ideal blend of transportation management experiences to the top
position in RSPA,” said Secretary Mineta.
“He has demonstrated his leadership in grappling with key emergency
transportation, pipeline and hazardous materials safety issues within the
department.”
RSPA
is responsible for the safe and secure movement of hazardous materials to
industry and consumers by all modes of transportation, including pipelines;
coordination of rapid response to transportation emergencies; and advancement of
science and technology for national transportation needs.
Bonasso
was West Virginia’s Secretary of Transportation in the second Underwood
Administration, with responsibility for highways, motor vehicles, and port,
transit, airport, rail and turnpike authorities. Most recently, he was chairman
of Literati Information Technology, a West Virginia consulting firm.
With
more than 36 years experience as a professional engineer, Bonasso, in his early
career, was a founder and president of Ski Lift International. Later, he was
president, founder and managing principal of Alpha Associates, an architectural
and engineering design firm in Morgantown, WV, that he managed for 29 years. He
is also an adjunct professor of civil engineering at West Virginia University,
Morgantown, WV.
Bonasso
received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of
Miami, FL, in 1962, and a master’s degree in civil engineering from West
Virginia University in 1964.
He
and his wife, the former Nancy Mowrey of Fairmont, WV, now live in Morgantown,
WV, and Arlington, VA.
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