Richard A. Dimino

President & CEO
(617) 502-6241  
rdimino@abettercity.org

Richard A. Dimino has served as the President and CEO of A Better City (ABC) since 1995.  Under his leadership ABC has achieved major organizational accomplishments such as helping to keep Boston open for business during the construction of one of the country’s most complex highway projects.  In addition, he significantly influenced the planning, design and development of a twenty-seven acre corridor along Boston’s waterfront and successfully launched ABC’s Sustainability and Climate Change Initiative.  Through Mr. Dimino’s guidance, A Better City recently played a key role in shaping Massachusetts’ Transportation Reform Legislation which led to the launching of the new Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).  ABC has won numerous awards during Mr. Dimino’s tenure, including: the History Makers Award for Innovation in Historic City-Building and Big Dig Civic Participation, the WalkBoston Golden Shoe Award, the Move Massachusetts Construction Achievement Award and the Boston Harbor Islands Governor’s Award. 

Prior to his time with A Better City, Mr. Dimino served as the Vice President and Deputy Manager of Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation’s Transportation Business Sector.  This position followed nearly a decade of service as Boston’s Commissioner of Transportation.  From 1985-1993, Mr. Dimino oversaw a 400-plus member department that developed and implemented all transportation policies and projects for the City.  His responsibilities also included representing the City on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Advisory Board and acting as Vice Chairman of the Board’s Executive Committee.  And serving as the Chairman of Boston’s Air Pollution Control Commission and the Central Artery/Tunnel Project Interagency Committee.

During his tenure as Commissioner, Mr. Dimino had the opportunity to publish articles detailing the city’s success in improving its transportation network.  These articles include: “A Successful Traffic Relief Program,” which appeared in an edition of the Institute of Transportation Engineers Journal, and “Transportation for Boston: A Framework for Improved Access.”  Mr. Dimino’s accomplishments as Boston Transportation Commissioner earned him the 1988 Engineer of the Year Award from the New England Chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers.  In addition, Mr. Dimino was honored by the U.S. Junior Chamber as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Leaders of Boston in 1989. 

Under Mr. Dimino’s leadership A Better City has frequently contributed towards and published articles and opinion editorials in area publications such as the Boston Globe, the Boston Business Journal and the Boston Herald*.  A Better City has also commissioned the publication of numerous reports which highlights the organization’s work as it relates to transportation, land development and the environment*.

Mr. Dimino received his Master’s in Business Administration from Boston University in 1994 and is a 1978 Magna Cum Laude graduate of Northeastern University.  In 1991 he completed a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, focusing on urban policy and design, transportation planning, architecture and economics. Mr. Dimino is a lecturer and studio critic at Harvard University where he currently teaches “Transportation Planning and Development”, and has been an adjunct professor at Boston University. 

Mr. Dimino currently serves as Board President for the Boston Harbor Association, Chairman Emeritus of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), is a member of the Freedom Trail Foundation and serves on the Massachusetts Convention Partnership.    In addition, he has served as an advisor to: St. Louis regarding the major reconstruction of Interstate 64 (U.S. Highway 40), the Downtown Alliance and the Lower Manhattan Construction Consortium regarding the rebuilding of ground zero, the City of Belfast regarding the development of the Belfast Strategic Master Plan and to the Director of Policy for the Premier of New South Wales, Australia, on approaches to public/private partnerships and tolling facilities.

 

**Recent articles and Opinion Editorials

11/30/09     Boston Globe Op-Ed, “Don’t Give Up on the T”

11/10/09     Boston Herald, “On Track for the Future”

6/26/09       Boston Business Journal, “MBTA support is essential”

5/4/09         Boston Globe, “Transit woes bad for business, executives say”

2/10/09       Boston Globe, “A transportation roadmap for the state”

 

**Reports

April, 2009, “Building Massachusetts’ Economy through Transportation Investment, A Review of Potential New Funding Sources for Transportation”

January 2009, “The Urban Ring, Connecting the Spokes”

January 2009, “The Silver Line Phase III, The Missing Link Between People and Jobs”

Fall 2007, “Connecting With Our Economic Future, A Transportation Investment Strategy for the Life Sciences Cluster”

*Zakim Bridge photo by Caroline Crockett