Ruth A. MacFarlane Hunter
Logistics and Emergency Management

Ruth A. MacFarlane Hunter, Volpe's Logistics and Emergency Management Advisor, is a multi-disciplinary Engineer and Principal Technical Investigator who supports projects focusing on logistics and emergency management systems; commercial space technology and operations; aviation safety; automated identification and supply chain intransit visibility tracking systems; cost-benefit analysis; vehicle systems analysis, engineering, and integration; work flow analysis; computer systems/software requirements, development, testing, and implementation; munitions, and container management.

Ms. Hunter led Volpe Center emergency response support efforts for the DOT Office of Emergency Transportation and the Department of Energy, represented DOT on a TRB committee overseeing transportation emergency response issues, and worked at FEMA on the September 11th logistics response efforts. She led Volpe's effort to provide the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with software to employ transportation data to assist with its analysis of infectious disease migration. She recently documented her examination and recommendations regarding DOT security activities for the Office of the Secretary.

Ms. Hunter formerly was Chief of the Intermodal Logistics Systems Planning and Integration Division and Acting Chief of the Safety Information Systems Division. Ms. Hunter has provided extensive technical consulting, economic analysis, and/or software development support to numerous logistics projects for Army Materiel Command, Army European Theater Distribution Center, Defense Logistics Agency, and Military Traffic Management Command. She provided analysis for the Department of Energy's Office of Transportation's nuclear waste tracking project and the Office of Environmental Management's groundwater monitoring project.

Before her DoD assignments, she was Chief of the Technical Support Office managing non-ADP analytical support contracts, equipment loan pool, and machine shop; a Project Manager of the DOT's Heavy Truck and Bus Fuel Economy Improvement Project; and a Project Engineer on the DOT Automotive Energy Efficiency Program. Prior to joining DOT, Ms. Hunter's years in industry focused on missile aerodynamic design and software development for the U.S. Air Force, NASA, and the FAA.

Ruth is a Registered Professional Aeronautical Engineer in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She received her B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering with highest honors and placed first in her class at the Boston University (B.U.) College of Engineering. She has an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from B.U. She was inducted into the management honor society Beta Gamma Sigma and was twice selected as an Outstanding Young Woman of America.