Don Hunt, Executive Director

Date appointed: 1/7/11

Senate Committee hearing date: 2/22/11

Senate Committee hearing vote: Confirmed, 35-0

Senate vote date: February 28, 2011

Senate vote: Confirmed - Unanimous

Salary: $151,840

"Donald Hunt has the depth and breadth of experience to tackle the wide variety of transportation issues facing Colorado,” Gov. John Hickenlooper said. “Colorado’s transportation needs are as varied as its scenery. Don is one of the country’s finest transportation thinkers and he knows how to bring projects in on time and under budget."

As the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Transportation, Hunt is charged with leading the Department in planning for and addressing Colorado’s transportation needs. Hunt oversees 3,300 employees statewide and an annual budget of approximately $1.2 billion to help CDOT continue its mission of providing the best multi-modal transportation system for Colorado that safely and most effectively moves people, goods and information. Hunt’s approach to transportation relies on innovation in financing and project development as well as a renewed focus on public-private partnerships.

Prior to his appointment with CDOT in 2011, Hunt worked twenty-five years with BRW, Inc., and then eleven years as the president of the Antero Company.

BRW, Inc. is a national transportation and urban development consulting firm, where Hunt was the principal for transportation and urban projects. During the last ten years of his tenure with BRW, Hunt was President and CEO. While there, he served as a transportation team member for the White House Comprehensive Design Plan and Memorial Core Transportation Study in Washington, D.C., and as the chair of the Joint Venture Board for the design of the Salt Lake City light rail system. In Colorado, he was also involved in planning for the redevelopment of the Stapleton International Airport site as well as numerous other public works and infrastructure projects in Denver, Colorado Springs and Arapahoe County.

The Antero Company is a project development and management firm. During his time with the company, Hunthe consulted for both the private and public sectors, and was also appointed the y tn-n-Mayor Hickenlooper to manage the Better Denver Bond Program, a $550 million infrastructure program.

He has also served in a variety of positions with organizations including the Downtown Denver Partnership, Children’s Museum of Denver, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Stapleton Foundation and Crowfoot Valley Metropolitan District.

Hunt is originally from Minnesota, but has lived in Colorado for 30 years. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with dual degrees—a Bachelor of Environmental Science and a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture. He received a Master of City and Regional Planning from Harvard University. 

About the Department of Transportation: 

Colorado is responsible for a 9,144-mile highway system, including 3,429 bridges, which handles over 28 billion vehicle miles of travel each year. The Colorado Department of Transportation leads the effort to plow millions of miles of snow-covered road and to repair and maintain the roadways. The Department of Transportation is led by an executive director and includes the Division of engineering & Maintenance, the Division of Transportation Development, the Division of Aeronautics, the Division of Human Resources & Administration, the Division of Accounting & Finance and the Division of Transit and Rail.