The Westchester County Association of Municipal Public Works Administrators (WCAMPWA) proudly announces its 2011 Person of the Year, Curtis J. Woods, P.E., Deputy Commissioner of Public Works / City Engineer for the City of Mount Vernon.  Curtis has been a member of WCAMPWA since joining the City of Mount Vernon in 2000.

He is a native of Brooklyn, New York and presently resides in Mount Vernon, New York.  He received his formal education in the public schools of New York City.  He is a graduate from Brooklyn Technical High School in Brooklyn, New York.

Curtis began his career in the private sector after graduating from University of Hartford with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1983.  While in College, he was an intern with General Dynamics (Electric Boat Division) Groton, Connecticut in the electronics and structural departments.  Following graduation, Curtis took a position with URS Consulting Engineering firm as a junior engineer.

He joined the New York State Department of Transportation Region 11 (New York City) in September 1984 as a junior engineer at Two World Trade Center.  During his sixteen years with the New York State Department of Transportation he reached the position of Civil Engineer II, while serving the positions of Squad Supervisor, Project Engineer, Engineering Automation Coordinator and Project Manager.  He received his Professional Engineering License in the State of New York in 1991.  He received an “Excellence in Engineering “award in 1995 from the New York State Department of Transportation for Exemplary Contributions to Engineering in New York.

In 2000, Curtis was appointed in the dual capacity of Deputy Commissioner of Public Works and City Engineer for the City of Mount Vernon, overseeing a staff of 136 and an operating budget of $14 million.  He oversees the Department’s engineering, construction bureaus, handling resident service requests and special projects.  This past September, he has completed a total of twenty-seven (27) years working in municipal government.

He is currently serving his first term as President for WCAMPWA.  He is on the Board of Directors for the Mount Vernon YMCA and the Board of Directors for the Omicron Iota Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. 

Curtis is a retired Major of the Engineering Branch of the United States Army Reserves with over twenty (20) years of service.  He is an Iraq War Veteran (OIF II), while assigned to the 353^rd Engineer Group with service from March 2004 to February 2005 in the Baghdad Area of Operations under the 1^st Calvary Division command.  He assisted in the development of the military base camps stationed in Baghdad area and the rebuilding of various infrastructures in Baghdad and its surrounding areas.  He is a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6396 Mount Vernon, NY.

None of his success would be possible without the support of his family who share a large part of the load.  Curtis and his wife, Denise and two children, Dinorah and Jamal reside in the City of Mount Vernon, New York.