John D. Porcari has been appointed president of U.S. advisory services at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, a global engineering and professional services organization.

In his new position, Porcari directs the firm’s strategic consulting services across all market sectors, including buildings, transportation and infrastructure, industrial and energy, and environment. He is responsible for integrating the firm’s technical expertise in planning, engineering, program/construction management and operations with the strategic thinking needed by owners, developers and operators to successfully deliver programs and projects.

“As he leads our efforts to expand strategic advisory services, John will focus on value-added research, analysis and advisory services throughout all of our business sectors,” said Greg Kelly, president/CEO of WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff in the U.S., Central & South America. “He will marshal the resources of our strategic consulting practice to help owners, developers and operators of transportation infrastructure devise innovative solutions to critical business and operational problems.”   

Porcari joined WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff in December 2013 as senior VP and national director of strategic consulting. Prior to joining the firm  he was deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation, serving as the chief operating officer for an executive branch department with a $77 billion annual budget, composed of 10 operating administrations and 55,000 employees worldwide.

Porcari twice served as secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation, from 2007 to 2009 and from 1999 to 2003, managing a state agency responsible for integrated highway, transit, aviation, port, bridge and tunnel authority and motor vehicle administration components, with 9,300 employees and a $3.2 billion annual budget.
From 2003 to 2007 Porcari was VP for administrative affairs at the University of Maryland, serving as chief administrative officer and chief financial officer for the flagship campus of university system of Maryland.

Porcari received a master’s degree in public administration from the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, State University of New York at Albany and a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of Dayton.  He has served on the board of directors of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the American Public Transportation Association, the World Trade Center Institute, and the National Aquarium in Baltimore.