Michael Bryant, director of the civil rights division at the Texas Department of Transportation, has been appointed to a two-year term as vice chair of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Committee on Civil Rights.

Originally from Washington, D.C., Bryant moved to Austin with his family in 1978. He is an alumnus of Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School, Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and the University of Texas School of Law.

The civil rights division Bryant oversees for TxDOT aims to promote diversity and inclusion opportunities within the agency’s programs and operations related to equal opportunity, affirmative action, and non-discrimination. It also oversees the department’s disadvantaged business enterprise, small business enterprise, and historically underutilized business programs and activities.

Bryant also worked in the office of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry career as counsel to the “Trusteed Programs” within the governor’s office, which included the Economic Development & Tourism Division, the Texas Military Preparedness Commission, Texas Music Office, and the Texas Film Commission, among others.