Rich Byrnes

Rich Byrnes is a global executive and creative leader with a passion for improving business and developing people. Currently, he is the Chief Infrastructure Officer at Port Houston. His team supports international trade by focusing on Planning, Engineering & Construction, Asset Management, the Houston Ship Channel, Freight Mobility, Environmental Affairs, and Technical Analytics.

Rich’s career spans engineering, operations and consulting across transportation and oil & gas sectors. He started his career wintering over and managing supply chain at the South Pole, Antarctica, then became an oilfield engineer in Saudi Arabia and Syria. Later, Rich consulted on strategy, organization, and performance for corporations and governments world-wide, and led global consulting businesses with two Fortune 100 companies.

Rich holds two Master’s from MIT, in Ocean Systems Management and in Technology and Policy; a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from UC Santa Barbara; an Associate’s in Mathematics from Long Beach City College; and leadership certificates from Texas A&M. He also taught Leadership at Texas A&M and Strategic Management at University of Maryland. Rich lives in the Houston area, serves on the Boards of STEM-E Youth Career Development Program, Blue Sky Maritime Coalition, and Port of the Future.