Mortimer L. Downey

Mortimer Leo Downey III (August 9, 1936 – November 2, 2023) was an American government official who was Deputy Secretary of Transportation from 1993 to 2001, making him the longest-serving person to ever hold the post. Downey was appointed to the position at the beginning of the Clinton administration, and was the acting U.S. Secretary of Transportation for the first four days of the Bush administration, from January 21, 2001 to January 24, 2001.

Downey additionally served as executive director and chief financial officer of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority from 1986 to 1993, and as chairman of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority from 2015 to 2016.

Early life and education Downeywas born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on August 9, 1936. He was educated at the Phillips Academy, Yale University, and New York University. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander.

Career Downey initially aspired to a career in finance, but was unable to find work in the field upon graduating from Yale in 1958.

In 2010, Downey was appointed to the board of directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, to one of the seats chosen by the federal government. The Washington Post said that he was selected to guide the Metro out of a state of considerable disarray which had grown amid years of shrinking ridership and decaying infrastructure; the system was plunged into further crisis after a deadly train collision the year before. His period as chairman was marred by poor relations with fellow board members, some of whom accused him of inefficiency, and eventually, of having a conflict of interest, due to his job as an advisor with an engineering firm which worked with the Metro. While a subsequent ethics investigation cleared him of any wrongdoing, the hostile environment led Downey to leave the role after one year.

Personal life and death In 1961, Downey married Joyce Vander Meyden. They had two children and were married until her death in 2012.

On November 2, 2023, Downey died from pulmonary fibrosis at a retirement home in Oakton, Virginia, at the age of 87.