Brookings Institution announces Robert Puentes as Vice President and Director of Brookings Metro

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Brookings Institution is pleased to announce that Robert Puentes has been appointed Vice President and Director of Brookings Metro.

Puentes most recently served as the president and chief executive officer of the Eno Center for Transportation, a non-profit think tank with a mission to shape public debate on critical multimodal transportation issues and build a network of innovative transportation professionals. Prior to joining Eno, Puentes was a senior fellow at Brookings Metro where he led the program’s infrastructure work. Puentes has worked extensively on developing evidence-based solutions to pressing problems local leaders care about: improved accessibility, a healthier climate, and a stronger economy.

“Rob’s deep understanding of the challenges facing metropolitan regions and his experience as a leader and manager make him ideal for Brookings Metro at this time,” said Cecilia Rouse, president of the Brookings Institution. “Rob will advance our ability to help local, state, and federal policymakers build more prosperous, resilient, and equitable communities.”

Puentes has also served on a variety of boards and committees including, most recently, the Federal Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity; Jobs to Move America, United for Infrastructure, the Shared Use Mobility Center; the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies Advisory Board; 2100 Infrastructure Commission; and the New York MTA Reinvention Commission. He is a frequent speaker to a variety of groups, a regular contributor in newspapers and other media, and has testified before Congressional committees.

Puentes holds a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Virginia where he served on the Alumni Advisory Board. He was an affiliated professor with Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute and an instructor with Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.

“I am thrilled and honored to lead Brookings Metro and its top-quality staff,” said Puentes. “It is more important than ever that Metro continues to inform the thinking of civic, corporate, and political leaders while looking around the corner for the issues and challenges ahead. I am eager to be a part of those efforts.”

Brookings Metro is the nation’s leading source of ideas and action on U.S. regions, collaborating with local leaders to transform original insights into policy and practical solutions that scale nationally.

Puentes will start on June 17, 2024.