Polly Ellen Trottenberg (born March 16, 1964) is an American politician and government official who is serving as

Deputy Secretary of Transportation The deputy secretary of transportation advises and assists the secretary of transportation in the supervision and direction of the Department of Transportation (DOT). The deputy secretary would succeed the secretary in his or her absence, sicknes ...

under

Pete Buttigieg Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; ; Sometimes pronounced or , but not by Buttigieg himself. born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former military officer who is currently serving as the United States secretary of transp ...

since April 14, 2021. She previously served as commissioner of the

New York City Department of Transportation The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) is the agency of the government of New York City responsible for the management of much of New York City's transportation infrastructure. Ydanis Rodriguez is the Commissioner of the Departm ...

from 2014 to 2020.

Early life and education

Trottenberg was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and grew up in

Pelham, New York Pelham is a suburban town in Westchester County, approximately 10 miles northeast of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 13,078, an increase from the 2010 census. Historically, Pelham was composed of five villages ...

and

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

in 1986 and a

Master of Public Policy The Master of Public Policy (MPP), is one of several public policy degrees. An MPP is a master's-level professional degree that provides training in policy analysis and program evaluation at public policy schools. The MPP program places a focus o ...

from the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Career

Early career

During the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

, Trottenberg was the

Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy The Under Secretary Transportation for Policy is a position within the United States Department of Transportation. The Under Secretary serves as an advisor to the United States Secretary of Transportation and Deputy Secretary of Transportation on ...

, helping develop the

Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE), previously called Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD), and Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER), is a supplementary ...

grant program. Trottenberg also served as a transportation policy adviser for Senators

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...

Barbara Boxer Barbara Sue Boxer (née Levy; born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States Senate, representing California from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the U.S. ...

, and

Daniel Patrick Moynihan Daniel Patrick Moynihan (March 16, 1927 – March 26, 2003) was an American politician, diplomat and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented New York in the United States Senate from 1977 until 2001 and served as an ...

, in addition to holding positions with the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized ...

and the nonprofit Building America's Future.

NYC DOT

Polly Trottenberg was appointed by New York City Mayor

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...

on December 31, 2013, to replace

Janette Sadik-Khan Janette Sadik-Khan (born April 28, 1961) is a former commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation (2007–2013) and an advisor on transportation and urban issues. She works for Bloomberg Associates, a philanthropic consultancy es ...

as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation. Trottenberg was sworn in on January 27, 2014. Trottenberg was also a board member of the

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in th ...

, having been confirmed for a 10-year term on June 23, 2014. Seen as a voice of "sanity" on the board, she resigned from the position on June 3, 2019. Trottenberg also served as the chair of TRANSCOM, a coalition of 16 transportation-related agencies in the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

, from 2015 to 2019.

Deputy Secretary of Transportation

In November 2020, Trottenberg was named a volunteer member of the

Joe Biden presidential transition The presidential transition of Joe Biden began on November 7, 2020 and ended on January 20, 2021. Unlike previous presidential transitions, which normally take place during the roughly 10-week period between the election in the first week o ...

Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

. On January 18, 2021, it was announced that Trottenberg would serve as

United States Deputy Secretary of Transportation The deputy secretary of transportation advises and assists the United States Secretary of Transportation, secretary of transportation in the supervision and direction of the United States Department of Transportation, Department of Transportation ( ...

in the incoming

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...

. On February 13, 2021, her nomination was formally submitted to the Senate for confirmation. On April 13, 2021, Trottenberg was confirmed in a 82–15 vote. She was sworn into office on April 14, 2021.

Personal life

Trottenberg is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. She lives on Capitol Hill with husband Mark Zuckerman, president of

The Century Foundation The Century Foundation (established first as The Cooperative League and then the Twentieth Century Fund) is a progressive think tank headquartered in New York City with an office in Washington, D.C. It was founded as a nonprofit public policy ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trottenberg, Polly 1964 births Living people 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American Jews Barnard College alumni Biden administration personnel Commissioners in New York City Harvard Kennedy School alumni New York (state) Democrats Obama administration personnel United States Department of Transportation officials United States Deputy Secretaries of Transportation Women government officials Women in New York (state) politics 21st-century American Jews