James R. McCarville Executive Director
Port of Pittsburgh Commission
James R. McCarville has 30 years of port experience. He has served as the executive director of ports on the Great Lakes (Superior, WI, '77-'84), U.S. east coast (Richmond, VA, '84-'90) and the U.S. inland waterway system where he has been the executive director of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission (since 1994). From 1990 to 1993 Jim served as a private consultant, advising the governments of Brazil, Uruguay and Mexico on matters of port organization, operational efficiency and privatization and the governments of both Panama and the United States on the strategic transition plan for the transfer of the Panama Canal.
Jim is the past president and chairman of the national trade association of the Inland Rivers' Ports and Terminals, Inc. (IRPT). He has served as a member of U.S. Secretary of Transportation's (DOT's) Maritime Transportation System National Advisory Council (MTSNAC) and as a member of the National Academy of Science/Transportation Research Board panel that prepared the report "The Maritime Transportation System and the Federal Role: Measuring Performance, Targeting Improvements." He is the principal author of "Container on Barge Pre-Feasibility Study" published by the U.S. Maritime Administration. He is on the Board of Directors of both Waterways Council Inc. and the National Waterways Conference. He is active on the Transportation Research Board's committee on Inland Waterways and is a member of PIANC's Working Group 31 "Organization and Management of River Ports."
At the Port of Pittsburgh Commission, he has demonstrated leadership by securing federal funding for the rebuilding of the port's aging infrastructure and the advancement of new technologies for river transportation and information systems. The Port has recently been awarded a patent for a locking technology, called "SmartLock." He is particularly proud of his efforts at coalition building, especially the efforts that have led to the very successful "SmartRivers" benchmarking conferences for inland waterways in the United States and Europe.
Jim is a native of Wisconsin. He is a graduate of Regis College in Denver and holds advanced degrees in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, Washington, DC, and Urban Studies from Roosevelt University, Chicago, IL. Jim started his career as Lakefront Recreational Planner on the staff of the mayor of Milwaukee and, before that, as a community leadership trainer in the Peace Corps in Brazil.
James R. McCarville