WYDOT chief engineer Mark Gillett retiring after 45 years of service

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming Department of Transportation chief engineer Mark Gillett recently announced he is retiring this month after almost 45 years of public service.

“It is a pleasure to congratulate Mark on his retirement,” Wyoming Transportation Commission Chair Susan Holmes said. “On behalf of the Transportation Commission, we thank Mark for his many years of dedicated service and hard work. I have known Mark for many years and believe he served WYDOT and the people of Wyoming with integrity and reliability.”

After graduating from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 1980, Gillett started his engineering career with WYDOT that same month in Gillette. He moved up the engineering ranks, including serving as resident engineer in Lovell and Cody, maintenance staff engineer in Cheyenne, district maintenance engineer in Sheridan, district engineer for District 4 in northeast Wyoming and assistant chief engineer of operations in Cheyenne before becoming chief engineer in 2020.

Gillett has spent his entire engineering career working for the state of Wyoming, serving its residents, travelers and businesses.

As chief engineer, Gillett was responsible for overseeing transportation planning, highway design and operations for WYDOT statewide, including highway construction projects, winter maintenance, highway safety, highway and bridge design, WYDOT’s equipment fleet, WYDOT’s buildings and more.

“It’s been a very fulfilling and exciting career,” Gillett said. “This organization has always had good people in it, and that’ll be the thing that I’ll certainly miss the most.”

WYDOT executive staff will work with the Transportation Commission to begin the process of selecting the next chief engineer.