Gary Ridley (transport director)

Gary Ridley, PE, (born 1945) is an American engineer from the state of Oklahoma who is the current Oklahoma Secretary of Transportation, having served since he was appointed by Governor of Oklahoma Brad Henry in 2009. In addition to his service as Transportation Secretary, Ridley also served concurrently as both the Director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (2001–2013) and the Director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (2009–2013).

Ridley joined the Oklahoma Department of Transportation in 1965, when he started as an equipment operator. He moved up to maintenance superintendent at Kingfisher, Oklahoma in 1970 and traffic superintendent at Perry, Oklahoma in 1979. In 1983 he became field maintenance engineer at Perry, then advanced to Division Five Maintenance Engineer at Clinton, Oklahoma in 1986. He became Division Engineer at Clinton in 1995.

He left ODOT in 1997 to become executive director of the Oklahoma Asphalt Paving Association. He returned to the department in January 2001 as Assistant Director for Operations. In August 2009, Ridley was appointed by the Oklahoma Transportation Commission as the Director of the Transportation Department. As Director, Ridley was responsible for managing the Department through the crisis caused by the I-40 bridge disaster, and the reconstruction in the summer of 2002.

Ridley retired from his post as Director of the Transportation Department on March 31, 2013, after serving 12 years in that post and 44 years with the department overall.

In October, 2009, former Transportation Secretary Phil Tomlinson retired as Director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority effective November 1, 2009. The Authority then appointed Secretary Ridley to succeed Tomlinson as Director. With his appointment as Turnpike Director, Ridley is the first person to serve concurrently as Transportation Secretary, Transportation Department Director and Turnpike Authority Director since Neal A. McCaleb in 1999 under Governor Frank Keating.

Ridley retired as Director of OTA the same day that he retired from ODOT.

Henry Administration

Governor of Oklahoma Brad Henry appointed Ridley as his second Secretary of Transportation following the resignation of Phil Tomlinson in 2009. As Transportation Secretary, Ridley has supervision over all state transportation initiatives and the entities charged with implementing them, including the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the Oklahoma Transportation Authority, the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission, the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority and all Port Authorities within the state.

During the Henry administration, Ridley served as Transportation Secretary concurrently with his position as Transportation Department Director, which gave him direct control over that department.

Fallin Administration

On November 29, 2010, Governor-elect Mary Fallin announced that she would retain Ridley as Secretary of Transportation in her Administration. Fallin would also retain Ridley as the Director of both the Department of Transportation and the Turnpike Authority.

Ridley is a native of Chicago, Illinois and a registered professional engineer. He and his wife, Eula, live in Yukon, Oklahoma and have two children, Daphne and Joe.