Thomas Nelson, Jr. has served as the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Virginia Division Administrator since June 2019. In this capacity, he provides leadership and direction to a diverse professional staff in implementing the $1 billion Federal-aid highway program. Most recently, Thomas served for 4 years as the Division Administratorfor FHWA in Kentucky.
Prior to his positions as Division Administrator, Thomas was the Special Assistant to the Administrator. In this capacity, heprovided direct support to the Administrator and served as a key adviser. Thomas also served as a Major Projects Engineer in the Office of Innovative Program Delivery where he was responsible forproviding technical and policy assistance to FHWA field offices, partners and stakeholders in implementing risk-based project management.
Before joining FHWA, Thomas served for 8 ½ years as a Vice President and Area Manager for CH2M Hill (now Jacobs). Thomas also gained 10 years ofvaluable design and project management experience with the Michigan Department of Transportation.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Michigan State University and is a licensed professional Engineer.
