Secretary Boardman announces new deputy secretary of WisDOT

Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) Secretary Kristina Boardman announced today that long-time engineer and WisDOT leader Scott Lawry is appointed to serve as the agency’s new deputy secretary.

As chief operating officer, Lawry will oversee the department’s operations which includes 3,200 employees, dozens of field offices and a biennial budget of more than $8 billion.

Lawry has dedicated his more than 30-year career to state service. He started working for WisDOT as an intern in the La Crosse office, and after graduating from UW-Madison with a degree in Civil Engineering, Lawry joined WisDOT full time in 1991. Over the years, he’s worked as a staff engineer, project manager and supervisor in a variety of division leadership roles.

Deputy Secretary Lawry most recently served as deputy administrator of WisDOT’s Division of Transportation System Development (DTSD) where he helped manage the department’s infrastructure programs.

“Scott’s decades of experience in planning, coordinating and managing highway improvement programs make him a perfect fit for this position,” Secretary Boardman said. “WisDOT has been recently able to deliver more than 300 projects every year to transform our communities, but we still have more work to do to improve our transportation system. We’re thrilled to add Scott’s vast engineering knowledge to the Secretary’s Office team to help us reach our goals.”

Lawry replaces Boardman as deputy secretary, after she was appointed secretary in September.

“It’s our job as leaders of WisDOT to do everything we can to improve safety for the traveling public and the many workers who build and support our transportation network,” Deputy Secretary Lawry said. “We will focus on responsibly managing the department’s funding to build a transportation system that meets the needs of a 21^st Century economy and workforce.”

Wisconsin has improved more than 7,400 miles of road and more than 1,780 bridges since 2019, in addition to the many upgrades to the state’s railroad infrastructure, ports and harbors, and our airports.

View Deputy Secretary Lawry’s full bio and download his official photo here.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.