Van Epps

James R. (Jim) Van Epps is senior vice president, WSP. He holds bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Kansas State University. He retired from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) after 30 years of distinguished military service. While with the Corps, he rose to become North Central Division engineer, a position that covers a 12-state region with a staff of 2,800.

Jim has led several organizations in successfully accomplishing unusually large and prominent transportation programs. Examples include the $68 billion California High-Speed Rail Program and the $6 billion Honolulu Rail Transit Project. He led the executive management for preliminary engineering and environmental studies of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District’s 11-mile extension into Santa Clara County and its 8.7 mile extension from Colma to Millbrae and to the San Francisco International Airport. From 1997-99, he was appointed by the California governor as chief deputy director of CALTRANS, the California Department of Transportation, where he managed a $6 billion annual budget and 20,000 employees.

Jim and Jane have been married for 44 years. They have three children, all educated as engineers, and six grandchildren.