Luisa Paiewonsky
Director
Center for Infrastructure Systems and Technology
U.S. DOT Volpe Center
Luisa Paiewonsky Bio
Luisa Paiewonsky has served as director of Infrastructure Systems and Technology since 2014. She directs the work of engineering, planning, and technology professionals, focusing on infrastructure modernization, automation, and advanced transportation technologies, maritime monitoring and security, military logistics, and innovative research programs.
Her team supports the U.S. DOT modal agencies, the Department of Defense, state Departments of Transportation, and international partners. She previously managed the Volpe Center’s work on the Strategic Highway Research Program.
Prior to joining the Volpe Center in 2011, Paiewonsky served in executive positions at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. She was appointed as the state’s first leader of the newly created MassDOT Highway Division, formed from the merger of the Massachusetts Highway Department and Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. In this position, she oversaw the work of 3,300 employees, led a multi-agency initiative in highway safety, and launched the nationally recognized $3.3 billion Accelerated Bridge Program. From 2005 to 2009, she served as commissioner of the Massachusetts Highway Department, where she directed the $1 billion annual Statewide Road and Bridge Program.
Before joining Massachusetts state government, Paiewonsky served for three years as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in the Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies. She is a past president and current advisory board member of the Boston Chapter of the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) and is a member of the Advisory Board for the University of Massachusetts-Lowell’s Center for Women and Work.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish from Mount Holyoke College and a master’s degree in city planning from Boston University.