Lester P. Lamm, former President of the Highway Users Federation (now American Highway Users Alliance) and top federal highway administrator, made enduring contributions to the nation’s interstate highway system and to the U.S. transportation during his thirty nine year career in highway administration.
In his nine years as Executive Director of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and in his four years as its Deputy Administrator, he diligently and successfully promoted the U.S. Interstate System and helped create the programs that have brought stability to America’s highways.
Mr. Lamm began his public service in 1963 with the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads (now Federal Highway Administration) and became the agency’s executive director in 1973. President Ronald Reagan appointed him as FHWA Deputy Administrator in 1982. He worked with six U.S. Secretaries of Transportation, helping them to direct more than $100 billion in U.S. interstate and primary highway construction funds. His long-term knowledge of effective highway administration had much to do with the timely completion of the U.S. interstate system.
In 1986, Lamm was named President of the Highway Users Federation. From this position he continued to promulgate the importance of, and promote the expansion of, the greatest highway system in the world. He was a member of the Board of Governors if the International Public Works Federation; a Director of Operation Lifesaver, Inc.; a Director of the International Road Federation; a Director of the National Commission against Drunk Driving; and a Director of the Travel Industry.
Mr. Lamm was a co-founder and the first president of the Intelligent Vehicle Highway Society of America. IVHS America was founded in 1990 as a public-private coordination mechanism to make better use of “smart” technology for roads and vehicles as an essential element of the national strategy for improved transportation in the 21st century.
Lester Lamm graduated from Norwich University in Vermont with a BS degree in Civil Engineering. He completed post-graduate work studies at Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Maryland.
Elected: 1995
