WASHINGTON — The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced today that Ann Brach has been named the executive director of the Transportation Research Board (TRB).

Brach has been with the National Academies since 1999, most recently as director of TRB’s Technical Activities Division. In this role, she led a large, multidisciplinary program supported by thousands of volunteers and sponsors across the transportation sector and played a central role in modernizing TRB’s technical activities, strengthening its alignment with mission and emerging priorities, and advancing the impact of its programs. She also led TRB’s $200 million Second Strategic Highway Research Program, where she was responsible for overall direction of interdisciplinary research on highway safety, infrastructure, planning, and operations. 

“Ann has been a valued colleague for decades, and her deep experience, strategic vision, and strong commitment to our mission make her the ideal new leader of the Transportation Research Board,” said Gregory Symmes, executive officer of the National Academies’ National Research Council. “I look forward to working with her in this new role.” 

Before joining TRB, Brach was research and technology program manager at the Federal Highway Administration and chief of the research and technology division of the Maryland State Highway Administration. She received a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Northeastern University and a Master of Science and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A registered professional engineer in Virginia, Brach also earned a master’s degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of America where she has taught ethics to engineering students.

Brach succeeds Victoria Sheehan, who has served as TRB’s executive director since late 2022.

TRB is a program unit of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine — private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, engineering, and medicine. The National Academies operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.

Contact:
Molly Galvin, Director of Executive Communications
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; news@nas.edu