Beltline taps Paul Morris as new president and CEO
‘We ended up with the absolute right candidate’
The Atlanta Beltline has a new leader.
This morning the smart-growth project’s board of directors selected Paul Morris, who most recently was the deputy secretary for transit at the North Carolina Department of Transportation, to serve as the president and CEO.
Morris comes with a nearly 30-year background in consulting and management with experience in a laundry list of issues, including, according to Beltline officials, “transportation, urban regeneration and development, natural resource management, public parks, and the development of corporate and institutional facilities.” At NCDOT, he oversaw the department’s multi-modal divisions and several land-use and transportation efforts.
Morris, who received an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture from the University of Oregon, was a private consultant before joining the North Carolina state agency.
John Somerhalder, the chairman of the board of Atlanta Beltline Inc., the nonprofit organization tasked with planning and developing the 22-mile greenspace, trails, and transit loop, said Morris’ “broad range of experience” made him the “absolute right candidate” for the job.