Governor Kristi Noem (R) announced on March 17 that Joel Jundt (seen above) would continue to serve as secretary of the South Dakota Department of Transportation. She named him interim secretary in November 2020 following the retirement of Darin Bergquist.

[Above photo via the South Dakota DOT.]

“Joel has long been respected throughout the industry and has dedicated his life to promoting transportation access and opportunity in South Dakota,” said Gov. Noem in a statement.

“He has proven himself to be the leader who can spearhead the future of mobility here in South Dakota,” she added.

A native of Rapid City, Jundt graduated from South Dakota School of Mines in 1985 with a degree in civil engineering.

He’s spent his entire engineering career with the South Dakota DOT, starting as a road design engineer and working his way up to be Rapid City region and operations engineer, director of planning and engineering, and deputy secretary.

“I look forward to working with Governor Noem and SDDOT employees as we strive to provide excellent services for all South Dakotans,” he said. “Our team is committed to build upon the great work of our past leaders and to move forward together to provide the safest, most effective, and best transportation system possible.”