Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Robert W. "Bob'' Sassaman, District Director for Caltrans District 7, who will celebrate his retirement from public service after an exemplary 40-year career at Caltrans.
Sassaman, an outstanding engineer and able administrator, was appointed as District Director on October 19, 1999, responsible for overseeing a vast and immensely complex transportation system in District 7, including 27 freeways and state highways spanning Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Sassaman, who had served as Chief Deputy for four years prior, had served as interim District Director since March of 1999 after Governor Gray Davis tapped then-District Director Tony Harris to serve as Caltrans Chief Deputy Director in Sacramento.
Prior to his tenure as Chief Deputy, Sassaman was Deputy District Director forProject Management at Caltrans District 8 in San Bernardino, a post he held since 1988. In that capacity, he was responsible for directing a professional engineering staff in the development, design and delivery of highway projects totaling in excess of $100 million a year. Sassaman was a member of a team that helped develop the project management concept at Caltrans, and later helped implement the system in District 8. The district was the first one in the state to use "single hat'' project managers to streamline the process of delivering transportation improvements. He also was a facilitator at the project management academies that taught the system to Caltrans supervisors.
Among Sassaman's other career highlights are supervising the design of the complex Simi Valley/San Diego Freeway interchange--now named the Ronald Reagan Freeway 118/405--in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles.
Sassaman was born in Neptune, NJ, but grew up in Phillipsburg, on the Pennsylvania border. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Lafayette College in Easton, PA, and a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Southern California. He also completed course work at California State University, Long Beach, and Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, CA, in business management. He holds a certificate in real estate from Mount San Antonio College.
Sassaman was hired at Caltrans District 7 as a junior civil engineer in July 1962; and held a variety of positions within the district over the next 26 years. They included Design Project Engineer of the 118/405 Freeway interchange; Resource Management Section Chief, Project Management Section Chief, Hydraulics Section Chief, Management Services Branch Chief; and Deputy District Director for Administration.
Sassaman is registered as a Professional Engineer in California (Civil), and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Project Management Institute.
There are few tasks as monumental in southern California as overseeing our regional freeway system with a commitment to responding to local needs and concerns, and for his dedication to better serving the commuting public of southern California as well as Caltrans employees, I ask all Members of Congress to join me in congratulating Bob Sassaman upon his retirement.