Richard A. Anderson
Executive Director
Georgia Regional Transportation Authority

Richard A. Anderson was elected Executive Director of the Georgia Regional Transportation (GRTA) Authority on March 12, 2008 by the GRTA Board of Directors. In the comments he made accepting the position, Anderson outlined that he planned to focus on four P’s – Partnership, Plan, Progress and People.

Anderson indicated he would continue to build the positive partnerships GRTA has with the Atlanta Regional Commission, Georgia Department of Transportation, MARTA and other government and civic organizations; continue the hard work of improving the region’s transportation plans; continue and expand GRTA’s work to improve the region’s efforts to improve mobility, air quality and land use; and build an even more effective GRTA staff, using the results of the recent employee climate survey as a starting point.

Anderson graduated magna cum laude with his Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing in 1980 and his Master of Business Administration degree in 1981 from Murray State University and was elected the MSU outstanding Alumni in 1994.
He joined South Central Bell as an Account Executive in June, 1981. He held sales and operations management positions of increasing responsibility with BellSouth and AT&T in the cities of Memphis, Birmingham, Louisville, and Nashville before being named Chief Operating Officer of BellSouth Communication Systems.

Effective December, 1993, Anderson was appointed President-Interconnection Services. He held subsequent positions as President-BellSouth Business Systems, Group President-BellSouth Business, Vice President-Marketing, and President of Customer Markets where he was responsible for all local, broadband, and long distance retail operations. Effective January, 2005, Anderson was named Vice Chairman-Planning & Administration for BellSouth and had responsibility for all corporate level staff functions. With closure of the merger of AT&T and BellSouth, he was named Group President – Global Business Services and subsequently retired to pursue opportunities in public service.

Anderson is very involved in the local community and serves on the boards of Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce – 2007 Chairman, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Clark Atlanta University, Camp Twin Lakes, and Chick-fil-A Bowl. He is also on the board of advisors for Kennesaw State University and Murray State University. In addition, Anderson led Atlanta’s bid for Super Bowl 2009.