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As executive director at the Port of Los
Angeles, Geraldine Knatz, Ph.D. oversees the daily operations
and internal management of the nation's number one
containerport. After an exhaustive national search, Los
Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa nominated Dr. Knatz for the
position in late 2005. She joined the Port of Los
Angeles in January 2006, after the Los Angeles City
Council confirmed her appointment by the Los Angeles
Harbor Commission.
Moving the Port of Los Angeles forward
with an agenda that focuses on responsible Port growth and
environmental leadership is an aggressive goal that Dr. Knatz
has tackled from day one. Reducing port emissions,
eliminating health risks and expanding capital development
programs to accommodate the Port's future growth as premiere
Pacific gateway and regional economic engine are the key
elements of a strategy Dr. Knatz and the Port are developing
for the critical five years ahead.
The first female in history to serve as
executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, Dr. Knatz
previously served as managing director of the neighboring Port
of Long Beach for seven years. As the number two
executive at the Port of Long Beach, she oversaw a $2.3
billion capital improvement program and led a number of
environmental initiatives, including development of the Green
Port Policy and Truck Trip Reduction Program.
While her impressive tenure at the Port
of Long Beach spans two decades, Dr. Knatz's maritime career
first began as an environmental scientist at the Port of Los
Angeles in 1977.
A proud alumna of the University of
Southern California, where she presently teaches civil
engineering, Dr. Knatz earned two degrees from USC: a
doctorate in biological science and a Master of Science in
environmental engineering. She also holds an
undergraduate degree in zoology from Rutgers University.
Dr. Knatz serves on the Alameda Corridor
Transportation Authority (ACTA) Board of Directors, chairs the
Marine Board of National Academy of Sciences and has been
appointed by the Secretary of Commerce to the National Sea
Grant College Program Review Panel.
Dr. Knatz is a member of the Executive
Committee of the International Association of Ports and
Harbors (IAPH), and chairs the organization's Environmental
Committee, representing the IAPH at the International Maritime
Organization (IMO), part of the United Nations, on
international maritime treaties. She is active in the
American Association of Port Authorities and is a past chair
of its Harbors and Navigation Committee. She also is a
member of the Women's Transportation Seminar of Los Angeles
Chapter (WTS-LA)
A New Jersey native, Dr. Knatz resides in
Long Beach with her husband and two sons. |
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