Nuria Fernandez Receives Frank Turner Award for Lifetime Achievement in Transportation

1/10/2025

Nuria Fernandez is the 2025 recipient of TRB’s Frank Turner Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Transportation, in recognition of her significant contributions to public transportation during a more than 35-year career.

Currently principal consultant/CEO for AMDC Consulting, LLC, Fernandez served as FTA Administrator from June 2021 to February 2024—the first woman of color to hold that position. Immediately prior to FTA, she was general manager and CEO of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), San Jose, CA.

Before VTA, Fernandez held several senior positions in public transportation, including chief operating officer of New York MTA, senior VP of design and construction for the Chicago Transit Authority, and assistant general manager at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. She served as APTA chair from October 2019 to January 2021.

The Frank Turner Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Transportation recognizes a distinguished career in the field; professional prominence; and a distinctive, widely recognized contribution to transportation policy, administration, or research. The 2025 award was presented Jan. 8 during the Chair’s Plenary Session of the TRB Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

Fernandez served on TRB’s Steering Committee for the Workshop on the Use of Turnkey Approaches in Public Transit Project, was a member and ex officio member of the TRB Executive Committee, a member of the Executive Committee’s Subcommittee for the Transit Cooperative Research Program, and the Transit Cooperative Research Program Oversight and Project Selection Commission.

She also served on the Board of Trustees of the Mineta Transportation Institute and the Transportation Learning Center. She has been a member of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials and Airports Council International and is an active member of WTS International.