The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' (AASHTO) Board of Directors has selected Frederick G. "Bud" Wright to be the seventh executive director to lead the nearly 100-year-old organization. He succeeds John Horsley, AASHTO's executive director since 1999, who is retiring February 1.

Wright, a transportation consultant based in Alexandria, VA, has recently worked on a major project examining approaches to performance-based management of the federal-aid highway program. He also has played a significant role in a research effort focused on administrative and institutional issues associated with mileage-based user fees. Wright is a former executive director of the Federal Highway Administration from 2001 to 2008. From 2001 to 2002, Wright was the FHWA program manager for safety. Before that, Wright was director of the Office of Budget and Finance, where he worked extensively on the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). For the past four years, Wright has served on an ongoing basis as a consultant to Lindsay Transportation Solutions/Barrier Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of products used in highway lane management and highway safety.

Wright holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg.