Rodney Slater
Secretary Slater currently serves as a Partner at Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP, where he leads the firm’s transportation practice, and has served since 2001. Prior to that, he served as the 13th United States Secretary of Transportation under President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001. In that capacity, Secretary Slater oversaw several significant legislative initiatives, including the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), which guaranteed $200 billion in surface transportation investment though 2003, and the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR-21), which provided $46 billion to improve the safety and security of the nation’s aviation system. Prior to that, Secretary Slater served as Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, and held a number of leadership positions in federal and state government related to transportation. He received a B.S. from Eastern Michigan University in 1977, a J.D. from the University of Arkansas in 1980 and completed additional studies through the Advanced Leadership Initiative program at Harvard University in 2011. Secretary Slater is a director of Verizon Communications Inc., chairman of the board of directors of the Squire Patton Boggs Foundation and served as a director of Kansas City Southern from 2001 to 2019 and Transurban Group from 2009 to 2018. Secretary Slater also served as a director of Northwest Airlines Corp from May 2007 until October 2008, when it completed its merger with Delta Air Lines, Inc. Following the merger, Secretary Slater served as a director of Delta Air Lines, Inc. from October 2008 until June 2011.