Paul D. Kovacs

CEEAA Distinguished Alumni Award, 2020

For outstanding commitment to the advancement and increased awareness of safety during maintenance and construction activities on the Illinois Tollway system; for extensive dedication to the implementation of sustainability for construction contracts; and for superior technical and administrative leadership as the Chief Engineering Officer of the Illinois Tollway during the execution of numerous major Illinois Tollway projects, including the system-wide conversion to Open Road Tolling, Rebuilding and Widening the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) and the new Illinois Route 390 Tollway.

Biography

Paul Kovacs is the chief engineering officer for the Illinois Tollway and is responsible for the policies, practices and procedures of the Engineering Department, which oversees all design and construction operations on the agency’s 294-mile system of roadways serving 1.6 million daily users in Northern Illinois. Currently, he is responsible for delivering the Illinois Tollway’s 15-year, $14 billion capital program, Move Illinois: The Illinois Tollway Driving the Future. 

He joined the Illinois Tollway in 1999 and, prior to his appointment to chief engineer, he served as the open road tolling program manager and deputy chief of project implementation. In this role, he managed the conversion of 20 mainline plazas to open road tolling and improvements along the Tri-State (I-94/I-294/I-80), Jane Addams Memorial (I-90) and Reagan Memorial (I-88) tollways. In his nearly 37 years of professional engineering experience, 17 were spent in the consulting industry. 

Kovacs earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois and is a registered professional engineer in Illinois and Michigan.