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History: The University of Arkansas Black Experience Celebration: The Silas Hunt Legacy Award Event Profiles of Recipients Snapshot: University of Arkansas |
Home: Profiles of Recipients: The Honorable Rodney Slater The Honorable Rodney Slater (JD '80)
Slater transformed the Department of Transportation into a truly visionary and vigilant organization that redefined transportation as more than concrete, asphalt, and steel. Slater recognized that, at its core, transportation is about people and about assisting them in their pursuit of happiness as they lead safer, better, and more fulfilling lives. Slater brought to transportation a real commitment to “putting people first.”
His appointment as Secretary followed four years of service as Federal Highway Administrator, during which he became the first African American administrator in the agency’s century-long history. Slater’s talents were not lost upon the residents of his home State of Arkansas. He held several positions in Arkansas, including Director of Governmental Relations at Arkansas State University, Executive Assistant for Economic and Community Programs for then-Governor Bill Clinton, the Governor’s Special Assistant for Community and Minority Affairs, and Assistant Attorney General-Litigation Division of the Arkansas State Attorney General’s Office. Slater earned his Juris Doctor from the UA School of Law in 1980. He is married to fellow UA alumna Cassandra Wilkins.. |
The
13th Secretary of Transportation, the Honorable Rodney Slater, led
the United States Department of Transportation under President Clinton
and is currently a partner with Patton Boggs LLP, Attorneys at Law
in Washington, D.C.
During
his four years in office, Slater produced an impressive record of
achievement, including major improvements in transportation safety,
new investments in infrastructure, programs to protect the environment,
and initiatives to expand opportunity. A true testament to his management
talents, Slater managed a Cabinet department with 100,000 employees
and a $60 billion annual budget.