After 57 years on the job with the Tennessee Department of Transportation, Bob Brown is retiring as TDOT Region Two Director effective Oct. 1. Brown began his TDOT career in 1952 as a laborer, and for the following 40 years he worked his way up through the ranks to become Regional Director in 1992. Regional directors oversee maintenance, construction, traffic engineering, design, right-of-way, material testing and incident management in TDOT’s four regions of the state.
Region Two is based in Hamilton County and includes 24 East and Middle Tennessee counties that stretch from Coffee County in Middle Tennessee to Polk County bordering North Carolina and Georgia, Clay and Pickett Counties adjacent to Kentucky, and Marion and Franklin Counties bordering Alabama. Region Two also encompasses Monteagle Mountain and the counties of the Cumberland Plateau, including the cities of Cookeville and Crossville.
Mr. Brown will be recognized at a special afternoon reception on Oct. 8 at the Region Two complex on Cromwell Road in Chattanooga. During a special ceremony earlier this year, Mr. Brown was honored in the Tennessee General Assembly with a bill that will name the future Region Two TDOT Administration building after him. The building will be constructed in the Enterprise South Industrial Park at a later date.
“Bob Brown’s many years of experience and wealth of accumulated knowledge will be missed,” said TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely. “Bob has had a remarkable career, and we all wish him well in his retirement.”
Representative Bill Harmon, who serves as Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, sponsored the bill to name the future TDOT building after Mr. Brown. “It is the least that we can do to honor Bob Brown, who has served 57 years to ensure that Tennessee has one of the best transportation systems in the country.”
TDOT Chief Engineer Paul Degges said, “Bob Brown has been a dependable leader in Region Two, and I appreciate everything that he’s done for TDOT. Bob is known across the state for his firm and fair leadership, and he will be missed.”
“My time here has been a pleasure, and I’ve been fortunate to have been surrounded by many dedicated and talented people,” said Mr. Brown. “Although I love my work, it’s the people that I’ve worked with throughout the entire region that I will miss the most. I truly believe in my heart that we have some of the best employees in Tennessee.”
Mr. Brown and his wife Shirley plan on dividing their time between Tennessee and Oklahoma.