Mortimer L. Downey III

Downey

Mortimer L. Downey 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. Characteristically, he moved himself there when he learned he had pulmonary fibrosis six years ago. Supported by family and friends including the whole team at Sunrise, Mort continued engaging in local politics, advising on transportation, and continuing his education with Yale until the end of his life.

While public service in transportation personified Downey's 65-year career, Mort said Downey 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, Downey joined the Port of New York (now known as the Port of New York New Jersey), and immersed himself in the theory and process of management and operations.

Writing a paper on Robert Moses, 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.

Mort actually started in transportation as a high school senior. Set to work maintenance as a summer job, he was recommended to take over as sailing instructor in Bermuda for one of the faculty at Andover. Previously mostly a dry-land experience, Mort briefed his students and got them out on the water quickly. A tactic he employed dozens of times with transportation leaders to be over the years.

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 as a scholarship student at Andover Academy, 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, Mort 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 years of marriage. Mort 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. Mort lived in Northern Virginia for the last 31 years.

Mort led by example in his commitment to informed public service. His curiosity and knowledge about all things transportation was legion. From the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Mort and Joyce moved to Washington, DC in 1977 he to become the first multi-modal transportation analyst with the newly established U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget. Joyce worked in Loudoun County helping to integrate children with physical disabilities into mainstream education.

From there he joined the U.S. Department of Transportation where he became its first Assistant Secretary for budget. He then returned to New York where he served 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 on the President's Management Council, as Chairman of the National Science and Technology Council's Committee on Technology, as a member of the Trade Promotion Coordinating Council and 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 he served as the Board Chairman during 2015, leaving the Board in 2016.

For more than 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. He also consulted on technology and innovation issues on infrastructure and automation.

His legacy includes mentoring and championing dozens of transportation leaders in the public and private sector in the United States and globally. He was a talent spotter who connected people and jobs, work which earned him the National Member of the Year Award from the Women's Transportation Seminar.

This fall the Eno Foundation established the Mortimer L. Downey III Memorial Fellowship Program, adding to his litany of awards and recognition. This program will let former and outgoing Deputy Secretaries help future Departmental COOs get a leg up in the management and governance roles of the DOT. 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 of 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, the Coast Guard Guard Museum or the charity of your choice.