Transportation Secretary Swears in New Seaway Administrator

Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters swore in Collister Johnson, Jr. as the Administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC). Together with Canada’s St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, the SLSDC jointly operates and markets the binational Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway waterway that provides global market access to and from North America’s manufacturing and agricultural heartland. The SLSDC, one of ten agencies within the Department, operates and maintains the two U.S. locks in Massena, N.Y., on the Nation’s northern border.

Johnson has served previously as President and Chief Executive Officer of FastShip Atlantic, Incorporated and as Chairman of the Virginia Port Authority. His most recent post has been as Senior Management Consultant at Mercer Management Consulting, Inc. In 2002, he was appointed a Member of the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

Johnson becomes the ninth Administrator in the Corporation’s history, succeeding Albert Jacquez. Seaway Administrators by statute may serve a seven-year term of duty. A New York native, he received a B.A. degree in American Studies from Yale University, and a law degree from the University of Virginia. He lives in McLean, Virginia, with his wife, Elizabeth.