(Term Ends: 2029)
Paul A. Mattox, Jr., P.E., served as West Virginia Commissioner of Highways starting in January 2005 and was appointed acting Cabinet Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Transportation in January 2006. In June 2006, he assumed the dual roles of Cabinet Secretary and Commissioner of Highways, appointed by Governor Joe Manchin III and reappointed by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin. Mattox held these positions until his retirement in January 2017, making him the longest-serving Transportation Secretary and Highways Commissioner in West Virginia’s history. He began his career with the Division of Highways as a co-op student in 1979, remaining with the agency until 1987, and later worked with Woolpert, RPM Engineers, PLLC, E. L. Robinson Engineering Co., and CTL Engineering.
Mattox holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the WVU Institute of Technology and a M.S. in Engineering from Marshall University. He is a registered professional engineer in West Virginia, Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky, Florida and Alabama, as well as a registered professional land surveyor in West Virginia.
He has held key leadership positions within the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO), including Chairman of the Standing Committee on Aviation, Executive Committee member and Board of Directors member. He also co-chaired the AASHTO/Federal Highway Administration/American Council of Engineering Companies Committee and served as President of the Southern Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (SASHTO) from 2015 to 2016, presiding over their annual meeting at The Greenbrier. He has also served as President of the West Virginia Society of Civil Engineers and is a graduate of Leadership West Virginia.
A career highlight for Mattox was delivering the commencement address to the 2013 graduating class of his alma mater, WVU Institute of Technology. Currently, he serves as Chairman of the WVU Institute of Technology Institutional Board of Visitors and represents the institution on the WVU Board of Governors.
Among his honors are the 2005 Marshall University Graduate College Distinguished Graduate Student Alumnus Award, the 2010 Distinguished Mountaineer Award from Governor Joe Manchin III, the 2013 Marshall University Distinguished Alumni Award, the 2014 American Association of Highway Engineers North Central West Virginia Section Man of the Year and the 2017 Distinguished West Virginian Award from Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, the state’s highest honor for a native West Virginian.
Mattox and his wife, Elaine Davis Mattox – a nursing graduate of the WVU Institute of Technology, Marshall University and a Doctor of Educational Leadership from WVU, and a Research Scientist with the Charleston Area Medical Center Institute for Academic Medicine – reside in Hurricane, West Virginia; Glade Springs, West Virginia; and Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. They have three grown children, including a WVU graduate and a current WVU Institute of Technology student, and three grandchildren. Mattox is a native of Nitro, West Virginia, and Elaine is from Point Pleasant, West Virginia.