Nov. 17, 2021

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SALEM-- The Oregon Senate today confirmed Marcilynn A. Burke to the five-member Oregon Transportation Commission. The Commission is the state’s transportation governing body, guiding statewide policy and strategic direction to improve and maintain Oregon’s comprehensive multimodal transportation network. Burke will succeed Maurice Henderson, who stepped down from the Commission earlier this year to join U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s office as a senior advisor.

Burke is currently Dean and Dave Frohnmayer Chair in Leadership and Law at the University of Oregon School of Law. Burke served in the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management as Deputy Director for Programs and Policy. She then served as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management for the U.S. Department of the Interior over the BLM and three other bureaus, following a 2011 appointment by President Barack Obama.

“I am delighted to welcome Marcilynn Burke to the Commission,” said Robert Van Brocklin, who chairs the Commission.  “Her experience, intellect, and leadership abilities will be a tremendous asset to our work.  We are at a pivotal moment as we broaden the types of investments we make and create new ways to pay for them.  They involve not only traditional investments but spending in clean technologies like electric car charging stations, mass transit investments throughout the state, and other innovative programs and projects. Marcilynn will be a great new member and her colleagues at the Commission and ODOT all look forward to working with her.”

“Our transportation network is essential to the life of every Oregonian. I look forward to working on behalf of all Oregonians to help ensure that we’re meeting the needs of future generations,” Burke said. “The OTC plays a vital role in our state’s growth and future, working to make our system cleaner, more efficient, and safe and accessible to everyone. I’m excited about what lies ahead for our state and eager to get started.”

Burke holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a law degree from Yale Law School, where she was an editor for both the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, and the Yale Journal of International Law.

The Oregon Transportation Commission is comprised of five commissioners from around the state who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Oregon State Senate.