Leadership

The Honorable James Burnley served as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation from 1987 until 1989 under President Ronald Reagan. He is currently a partner at Venable, LLP, where he is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on transportation law and policy. Burnley served as Deputy Secretary of Transportation from 1983 to 1987 and was General Counsel of the Department in 1983. He was a Senior Domestic Politics Advisor to Elizabeth Dole’s presidential campaign and Senior Advisor to Robert Dole during his 1996 presidential race. He served on the Transportation Transition Team for the George W. Bush Administration and advised Senator McCain’s presidential campaign on transportation issues. Burnley was recognized as the top U.S. attorney in the transportation category in the 2013 edition of Global Law Experts. Burnley is the former Chairman of the Jamestown Foundation and the former Chairman of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. He served as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Virginia Port Authority and served on the Board of Directors of Infrasoft, Inc. He was also Chairman of the Party Study Panel of the National Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and served as a member of the Business Advisory Committee of the Transportation Center at Northwestern University. He graduated with a B.A. from Yale University and received his J.D. from Harvard University.