Jacki Wilkins

Melrose resident Jacki Wilkins was named the new president of the 400-member Boston Chapter of the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) at the organization’s annual luncheon last month.

Wilkins, a senior project manager for environmental permitting at the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), is the first African American to serve as president of WTS Boston. She begins her two-year term at WTS as the local transportation industry winds down from large-scale construction projects like modernization at Logan Airport and the Big Dig project.

Organized more than 25 years ago to advance women within the transportation industry, WTS has more than 40 chapters and 4,000 members worldwide. The Boston chapter ranks among the largest.

“This has been a 10 year goal of mine and I am so ready,” said Wilkins of the appointment. “I am looking forward to helping the chapter evolve in the post-Big Dig era to ensure that WTS remains vital for our members.”

|The fifth WTS member from Massport to serve as chapter president, Wilkins first joined WTS in 1994. Since then, she has served as vice president, treasurer and co-chair of committees responsible for student scholarships and planning the 2003 WTS National Conference, which was held in Boston.

Wilkins graduated with a degree in geology from Pennsylvania’s Lafayette College and later did graduate work in environmental studies before serving 11 years with the state’s Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. She also worked as a consultant for six years before coming to Massport.