PROVIDENCE – The state Senate, in a unanimous vote, has confirmed Jerome F. Williams as director of the R.I. Department of Administration.

Williams, who previously led the R.I. Department of Transportation, was named to the post by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri on Feb. 15. (READ MORE) He replaces Beverly Najarian, the administration director since 2004, who is now serving as Carcieri’s deputy chief of staff.

“Jerry Williams is a consummate professional who has served the people of Rhode Island well for years in a number of different capacities,” Carcieri said in a statement yesterday evening. Williams previously had served in the Administration Department as its executive director, from 2003 to 2007; and its deputy director, from 1986 to 1994.

At the DOT – where he was succeeded by Michael P. Lewis, who as project director at the Mass. Turnpike Authority is credited with rescuing the Big Dig – Williams is credited with cutting overtime by $2 million per year; consolidating dispatch services, saving $500,000 per year; and streamlining winter maintenance operations, saving $2.7 million per year. He also created a customer service office and oversaw the reopening of the Blackstone River Bikeway and the opening of the new Berkley-Martin Bridges and the first section of the Iway.

Going forward, “Jerry will lead my continuing efforts to make state government run more effectively for the citizens we serve and more efficiently for Rhode Island taxpayers,” Carcieri said.

News from the R.I. Governor’s Office is available at www.ri.gov/governor. More information about the R.I. Department of Administration is available at www.admin.ri.gov.