Luisa Paiewonsky, director of Volpe’s Center for Infrastructure Systems and Technology, recently received the Leadership in Infrastructure Revitalization Award from The Engineering Center Education Trust (TECET).

TECET is a Boston-based nonprofit organization that fosters educational opportunities for current and aspiring engineers and surveyors, and annually recognizes prominent regional and national leaders dedicated to advancing the engineering and surveying professions, as well as the public good.

Paiewonsky was presented with the Leadership in Infrastructure Revitalization Award at TECET’s annual leadership dinner in Boston on November 10.

“This may be an individual award, but nothing we do at Volpe, or that I’ve done throughout my career, is accomplished individually,” Paiewonsky said. “When you get the right mix of skills and people and backgrounds together, it’s amazing what you can accomplish.”

A Distinguished Public Service Career

Paiewonsky joined Volpe in 2011 from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), where she served as the state highway commissioner for six years and directed the state’s annual $1.4 billion Statewide Road and Bridge Program and $3 billion Accelerated Bridge Program, with projects across 10,000 lane miles of highway, 5,000 bridges, and a workforce of 3,300.

From 2012 to 2014, she served as Volpe’s program manager for the Federal Highway Administration’s second Strategic Highway Research Program, and in 2014 she was appointed to her current technical center director role at Volpe.

She has spent her entire professional career in public service, beginning with the Peace Corps after graduating from Mount Holyoke College. For three years, Paiewonsky taught agricultural science in the Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies, where she learned how to fulfill obligations to deliver goods and services—even with limited resources.

“Transportation is the ultimate public service,” Paiewonsky said. “It serves people at all income levels, beliefs, and backgrounds, and everybody needs it. I’m lucky to work in a profession I love with such smart, committed colleagues.”

Paiewonsky joined the Massachusetts Highway Department—now MassDOT—as an intern in 1989 and later earned a master’s degree in city planning from Boston University. Among more than a half-dozen other honors, Paiewonsky has received the WTS-International Woman of the Year Award, the Jane Garvey Transportation Leadership Award, and the Pinnacle Award from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. In 2012, she was named an honorary member of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers.

In Good Company

Paiewonsky joins a distinguished group of TECET awardees, including former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, Congressman Michael Capuano, and former Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Jane Garvey.

“We are so fortunate to have Luisa leading Volpe’s infrastructure, engineering, maritime awareness, and advanced vehicle technology research,” said Volpe Deputy Director for Research and Technology Anne Aylward.  “This recognition speaks to her extremely successful career overseeing major projects and initiatives that improve our nation’s surface transportation system at the state and federal levels.”