George H. Conner’s career reflects a lifetime of service to the state of Alabama, spanning engineering leadership, military duty, and structural and transportation expertise, as he managed statewide operations for the Alabama Department of Transportation.
Conner grew up in Troy, Alabama, and graduated in 1979 from Charles Henderson High School. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1983 and his master’s degree in 1985, both in civil engineering from The University of Alabama.
After graduating, Conner served as a civil engineering officer in the United States Air Force for four years, stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. He then worked as a structural engineer at LBYD Inc. in Birmingham before beginning his career with the Alabama Department of Transportation in 1992 as a bridge rating and load testing engineer. In 1998, Conner was promoted to assistant state maintenance engineer and again in 2008, to state maintenance engineer. With the realignment of the department from divisions to regions, Conner was named the region engineer for the Southeast region of ALDOT in 2014.
In December 2016, Conner was appointed deputy director for operations by transportation director John Cooper. In this role, he oversees the five ALDOT regions, as well as ALDOT’s operational bureaus, which include maintenance, construction, materials and tests, and equipment.
Conner is a registered professional engineer in Alabama. He serves on various state and national committees and chairs the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Committee on Maintenance, the Steering Committee for AASHTO Preservation Management, and the board of advisors for The University of Alabama Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering.
Conner and his wife, Kris, reside in Montgomery, Alabama. They have three sons, two daughters-in-law, and two perfect grandchildren.