Session Moderator & Panelists

Juan Carlos Villa
Texas Transportation Institute

Mr. Villa has 39 years of professional experience in consulting, research, and engineering projects. Since he joined the Texas A&M Transportation Institute in 2001, he has been responsible for managing numerous freight transportation, logistics and international trade projects.
Juan Carlos is directly responsible for the development, implementation and operation of a system to measure cross-border transportation performance at land ports of entry throughout the U.S.-Mexican border. His research interests also include analyzing and implementing transportation disruption technologies like blockchain and Internet of Things to improve freight and logistics operations at land and maritime ports.
Mr. Villa is a member of the Transportation Research Board serving as Chair of the Interna-tional and Trade Committee, and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness.
Juan Carlos has a BS in Electronics Engineering from the Monterrey Institute of Technology, in Monterrey, Mexico and a MS in Transport Studies from the Cranfield University in Eng-land. 

Edward Emmet
Rice University

Edward M. Emmett

Edward M. Emmett is a Fellow in Energy and Transportation at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. He is also a Senior Fellow at Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research. As a professor in the practice, Emmett teaches classes in transportation economics and policy as well as social policy. In addition, Professor Emmett is a Distinguished Senior Fellow within Northeastern University’s Global Resilience Institute.
Since 2005, Emmett is the owner of The Emmett Company, a consulting firm advising public and private entities in transportation policy, emergency management, international marketing and strategic development.
From 2007 until 2019, Emmett served as County Judge of Harris County, Texas. As County Judge, Emmett was the Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, a role which established him as a national leader in emergency response and community resilience.
A member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1979 to 1987, Judge Emmett was chairman of the Committee on Energy, a member of the Transportation Committee, and represented the state on numerous national committees relating to energy and transportation policy.
In 1989, President George H. W. Bush nominated Emmett as a Commissioner at the Interstate Commerce Commission. After being confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate, Judge Emmett served on the commission for three years.
Emmett has received international recognition for his work in transportation and logistics policy. He was named Transportation Person of the Year by Transportation Clubs International and one of the Top 20 Logistics Professionals by Logistics Forum.
Emmett attended Bellaire High School. He graduated from Rice University in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and from the University of Texas at Austin in 1974 with a Master of Public Affairs degree. 

Bethann Rooney
The Port Authority of NY & NJ

Bethann Rooney is the Deputy Director of the Port Department of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; the Nation’s third largest port. She is responsible for managing the day-to-day administrative and operations functions of the Port, including facility management, infrastructure, planning, environmental sustainability, port efficiency, business development, finance, and human resources. She was named to the position in April 2019 after serving four and a half years as Port’s Assistant Director, Strategy and Innovation. She is the architect and coordinator of the Port’s Council on Port Performance; the first forum of its kind in the nation that was established as a framework for port constituents to identify challenges to port efficiency and service reliability and develop recommended solutions. Prior to that, Ms. Rooney was the General Manager, Port Security for the Port Authority for 13 years. Assuming this post in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy, she is a recognized world leader in maritime security and emergency management issues. A 28-year veteran in the maritime industry, she is a graduate of the State University of New York Maritime College with a Masters in International Transportation and a Bachelors in Marine Transportation with qualifications as a Third Mate. Ms. Rooney holds several professional certifications and is an Accredited Marine Port Executive from the International Association of Maritime and Port Executives. 

Katherine Chambers
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters

Katherine Chambers is a research scientist with expertise in analytical approaches to resilience and the marine transportation system. For the past 7 years, she has focused on studying the concepts of resilience as they pertain to the marine transportation and emergency response business lines of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She is an active member of several international working groups on the marine and inland transportation system and a young member of the Transportation Research Board Ports and Harbors Committee, Extreme Weather and Climate Change Committee, and co-leads an interagency team entitled the Resilience Integrated Action Team as a part of the U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System. Presently, she is doing a developmental assignment with USACE Headquarters Asset Management Program. Katherine has an MS from Purdue University’s Ecological Science and Engineering Interdisciplinary Program and a BS from Wittenberg University. 

John Esparza
Texas Trucking Association (TXTA)

John D. Esparza, a graduate of Texas Tech University in Lubbock and a sixth generation native of West Texas, serves as president and CEO of Texas Trucking Association (TXTA) and Executive Director of Southwest Movers Association (SMA). TXTA, one of the largest trucking associations in the nation, was established in 1932 in Austin, while SMA got its start in 1917.

Prior to becoming TXTA president, Esparza worked for both the Gov. Rick Perry and Gov. George W. Bush administrations. He has served on the Texas Energy Task Force, the Texas Panama Canal Stakeholder Work Group and the Texas Proposition 1 Special Committee on Transportation Funding. Esparza continues to serve on the Texas Transportation Commission’s State Freight Advisory Committee and the Texas Border Infrastructure Planning Committee.

Esparza serves on the executive committee as the immediate past chairman of the PrePass Safety Alliance, an Arizona based premier non-for-profit, public-private partnership whose mission is to improve highway safety and efficiency through technology. He was appointed by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to the Household Goods Advisory Group.

He also serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Texas Tech University Research Park in Lubbock and a former member of the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents. He and his wife Leah reside in Austin and have three sons; Jacob Pecos, a junior at Texas Tech University, Joshua Brazos, a freshman at Texas Tech University and Jack Sabine, a high school junior attending St. Michaels Catholic Academy in west Austin.