MORTIMER DOWNEY

DOWNEY--Mortimer L., III, Mortimer L. Downey III, transportation legend, community activist, and public servant died at Sunrise of Hunter Mill in Fairfax, VA on November 2, 2023. While public service in transportation personified Mr. Downey's 65-year career, Mort said the public sector "was not my original choice. I interviewed with every bank and financial institution that was recruiting at Yale that year and none made an offer." Instead, Mr. Downey joined the Port Authority of New York New Jersey, and immersed himself in the theory and process of management and operations. Writing a paper on Robert Moses, Mr. Downey gained insight into the power of reading every document, legislation, testimony, contract, or transcript and of knitting them together into policy and programs across multiple agencies and projects. He also came to understand those processes that needed to be redefined to address equity and accountability. It is no surprise that the Moses paper and a course in Federal Budgeting and Financial Management became cornerstones in his career in transportation. Born on August 9, 1936 to Mortimer L. Downey Jr. and Elizabeth Carlin Downey, he grew up in Connecticut and Massachusetts. After finishing high school at Phillips Academy - Andover, he attended Yale University receiving a B.A. in Political Science in 1958. The exemplar of lifetime learning, Mr. Downey earned his master's degree in Public Administration from New York University, completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School, and continued online courses at Yale Alumni Program until this October. After college, Mr. Downey moved to New York City where he began service as an officer in the United States Coast Guard Reserve. In 1961, he married Joyce Vander Meyden (1937 to 2012) and they moved between New York, Connecticut and Virginia over the course of their 51 year marriage. Mr. Downey served in a variety of transportation roles including serving a record breaking eight years as Deputy Secretary of Transportation and Joyce worked as a physical therapist helping to integrate children with physical disabilities into mainstream education. From the Port Authority, Mort and Joyce moved to Washington, DC in 1977 to become the first multi-modal transportation analyst with the newly established U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget. From there he joined the U.S. Department of Transportation as its first Assistant Secretary for budget. He then returned to New York to serve as Executive Director and CFO of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) for 12 years. His capital programs and new public and private financing initiatives were key to rebuilding the system, extending service, and even facilitating the opening of the 2nd Avenue Subway in 2017. For eight years, Mr. Downey held the position of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation in the Clinton Administration. As the Department's chief operating officer, Mr. Downey developed the agency's strategic plans and had program responsibilities for operations, regulation, and investments in land, sea, air and space transportation. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak). Mr. Downey led the Obama Presidential Transition team for the Department of Transportation. In 2010 the Obama administration appointed him as the first Federal member of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Board and serving as Board Chairman from 2015 to 2016. For over two decades after leaving the DOT, Mort Downey was the go-to advisor in the transportation and infrastructure field for public agencies including New Jersey Transit, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Chicago Transit Authority, WMATA, the Virginia Rail Express, Transport for London and the Panama Canal Authority. This fall the Eno Foundation established the Mortimer L. Downey III Memorial Fellowship Program, adding to his litany of awards and recognition. Among his other honors were election to the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) and recognition with the Transportation Research Board's Frank Turner Lifetime Achievement award, the American Society of Public Administration's Truitt Award for transportation management, the W. Graham Claytor Jr. Award for contributions to intercity passenger rail, lifetime achievement awards from the Eno Transportation Foundation, American Public Transportation Association, the Council of University Transportation Centers, the International Leadership Award from the Intelligent Transportation Society of America and the National Member of the Year Award from the Women's Transportation Seminar. He was predeceased by his wife Joyce, with whom he celebrated 51 years of marriage and his brother, Peter Downey. He is survived by his two sons and their wives, Stephen and Abby (Alenstein) Downey of Long Island, New York and Chris and Sylvie (Carrier) Downey of Chatham, New Jersey; five grandchildren and two step-grandchildren, Jonathan Downey, Michael Downey, Alexander Downey, Addysen Downey, Hailey Downey, Holly Langehennig, and Raymond Langehennig, and two nieces Caitlin Downey of Chicago, Illinois and Sarah C. Downey Kelley, Ireland. A memorial service will be held at a future date. Memorial Donations may be made to the Mortimer L Downey III Memorial Fellowship at the Eno Foundation or to the National Coast Guard Museum.