Georgia DOT executives named to list of 100 most influential women in engineering

Published 1:21 pm Monday, July 28, 2025

For the eighth consecutive year, Engineering Georgia magazine has named team members from the Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT) among the “100 Most Influential Women in Georgia Engineering.” The annual list celebrates the impactful contributions of women leaders across the industry in Georgia.

Georgia DOT team members recognized for 2025 include:

Jannine Miller currently serves as Georgia DOT’s planning director. In 2023, Gov. Brian P. Kemp also appointed her executive director of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, the State Road and Tollway Authority and the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority. Among other career achievements, she previously served as senior advisor to the Secretaries of US DOT and USDA.

Meg Pirkle, P.E. is the chief engineer for Georgia DOT, a position she has held since 2015. She holds the distinction of being the first woman to serve in this role. Pirkle oversees the management of Georgia DOT’s Engineering, Construction, Intermodal, P3, Permits and Operations, and Program Delivery divisions. She has been with the department for over 34 years serving in various roles including transportation engineer, planning engineer, state scheduling engineer, assistant preconstruction division director, division director of administration, and assistant to the chief engineer.

Angela Whitworth serves as Georgia DOT treasurer. Over her career she has served in various financial and accounting roles at the department, including budget administrator, financial management administrator, director of finance, and assistant treasurer. With 27 years of public service to the State of Georgia, Whitworth has held various accounting and financial roles with the State Board of Pardons and Paroles and the Georgia General Assembly’s Legislative Budget Office.

Hiral Patel, P.E., is the director of Public Private Partnerships (P3). She has been with the department for over 25 years, having previously served as an area engineer, senior project manager, and assistant state program delivery administrator.

Kimberly Nesbitt is the state program delivery administrator. In this role she is responsible for more than 1100 projects accounting for $3 billion in funding. She has been with the department for 30 years and has held roles in construction, state aid and bridge maintenance.

In addition to Georgia DOT team members, Engineering Georgia’s “100 Most Influential Women in Georgia Engineering” also features five members of the State Transportation Board of Geogia.