Image

Lois Cooper was an African American woman who grew up in the 1940s in the segregated south. Two things defined her passions: she loved math and she possessed an absolutely fierce determination. In 1953, she became the first black female engineer hired by Caltrans and ultimately became a Senior Transportation Engineer. In 1975, she joined the Society of Women Engineers and was named as one of only 73 Fellows in the organization’s 40-year history, an extraordinary honor. She went the distance, always, no matter how difficult the challenge

WTS-LA recognized Metro Chief Program Management Officer Timothy Lindholm as one who goes the distance and exceeds the extremely high standards of Lois B. Cooper.  Tim Lindholm has been with Metro for nearly a quarter of a century. His work at Metro is remarkable. Delivering the largest transportation infrastructure program in the nation—a $28 billion slate of approximately 75 active rail, bus, and highway transportation projects—his work will define LA County and how the world perceives it for decades to come, especially as Los Angeles prepares to host the Olympics and Paralympics, World Cup, and other global events.

Throughout his career and in every effort he undertakes, he goes the distance for people every day in everything he does, even though he is probably the last person who would see this as unique. Even his management style reflects his belief in recognizing the dignity and humanity in an office setting. He explains, “A typical day for me is just keeping my door open so that my project managers can come in and talk to me about what’s going on.” This is from someone who is managing nearly 200 projects well into the billions of dollars. How does he do it? 

In his words, “The thing I learned a long time ago is to remain calm in the face of adversity. In this industry, when so much money is at stake and we’re doing a lot of acrobatic technical work, things are bound to go wrong. You need to learn to handle it, make quick decision, and not freak out.” That sounds simple, but try living that with so much on the line and everyone turning to you for answers and explanations. What’s even more remarkable is that this is what he has done for his entire career, every day—seeing the humanity and its benefit in his work.