Director, Deputy Director for Research and Technology

Anne Aylward is the director, and deputy director for Research and Technology, at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, a unique fee-for-service federal organization that conducts nearly $300 million in annual research and technology projects.

In her role as Volpe director, Aylward leads the staff of Volpe’s technical centers, which encompass all of the research, innovation, technology, and transportation program analysis functions performed by Volpe for federal, state, local, international, and other organizations with transportation-related missions. Previously, Aylward served as director of Volpe’s Center for Transportation Policy and Planning and acting director of the Center for Advanced Transportation Technologies.

Aylward has more than 30 years experience in transportation planning, operations, and program management, and is a nationally recognized expert in freight and intermodal transportation planning, policy analysis, and operations. Prior to joining Volpe's management team, she managed the transportation planning practice of EG&G, a division of the URS Corporation. From 1976 to 1993, she worked for the Massachusetts Port Authority, including 10 years as director of the Port of Boston. She was the first woman elected to chair the American Association of Port Authorities, and, as executive director of the National Commission on Intermodal Transportation, was primary author of the Commission’s 1994 Report to Congress.

Aylward is a skilled communicator with strong management and organizational skills. She is extremely effective in translating technical and operational issues into the public policy arena. She excels at bringing together diverse interests to build consensus and facilitate communication between public and private sector groups to manage multi-disciplinary projects.

Aylward received an A.B. from Harvard/Radcliffe and a master’s in planning from MIT. She was selected as woman of the year in 1993 by the National Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS), was honored by WTS-Boston with its 2016 Leadership Award, and is currently a member of the WTS International advisory board. She served two terms as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Marine Board and is a member of several Transportation Research Board freight and intermodal committees.