The City of Davis announced today that City Manager Mike Webb has named Dianna Jensen as director of Public Works Engineering and Transportation (PWET)/city engineer, effective immediately. Jensen is the first woman in the history of the City to serve in this capacity.
Jensen has worked for the City of Davis a total of 14 years, starting in 2007 as an associate civil engineer in the Engineering Division, overseeing projects and working with contractors, consulting engineers and members of the public. From there, Jensen worked in the Water Operations Division as a senior civil engineer before promoting to principal civil engineer managing the division. Jensen then left the City for a short period of time to work for a private water quality firm based in the United Kingdom before returning to the City of Davis in 2016 as city engineer. Jensen has been acting director of PWET since Bob Clarke retired in December 2022.
“Dianna has been a great asset to the City of Davis with her depth of knowledge and expertise in Public Works, especially in engineering, contract administration and capital improvement projects,” said Webb. “Dianna’s strategic thinking, proactive collaboration and analytical skill will continue to facilitate and grow the City’s capital investments and evolving transportation and mobility systems. I look forward to Dianna continuing her role as a dynamic and collaborative member of our executive team.”
“I have really enjoyed working for the City and appreciate the opportunity to lead our Public Works Engineering and Transportation department in efficiently and effectively providing service to other City departments and to the Davis community,” said Jensen. “I feel very lucky to work in the town that I live in and actively participate in making it a great place to live.”
Jensen plans to continue supporting the Engineering Division’s project management and project delivery team and the Transportation Division’s response service to citizen requests and onboarding of new staff. Additionally, Jensen will continue guiding the Administrative Division as they support the entire PWET department with budget, purchasing, invoicing and human resources.
Jensen received her bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from UC Davis in 1991 and her master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 1994. She enjoys hiking and biking in her spare time but loves sailing, especially in the San Francisco Bay. Jensen learned to sail from friends at Whiskey Town Lake and continues to love the beauty and dynamics of the sport.