Cris Liban serves as Sustainability Officer for Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro). Liban has worked at LA Metro since 2003, growing his agency’s environmental and sustainability practice into one of the most progressive and forward-looking in the country. He has implemented over 150 sustainability initiatives to date, and he is working to ensure that $140 billion in capital projects programmed for the next 40 years are sustainable, climate-adapted, and resilient for the 10+ million people of Los Angeles County.
Dr. Cris B. Liban holds degrees in geology, civil engineering, and environmental science and engineering (Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering, UCLA). He holds political appointments as the President of the City of Los Angeles Board of Transportation Commissioners and as a member of the State of California Green Bonds Development Committee. He was previously a member of the USEPA’s National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology, California Climate Safe Infrastructure Working Group, and Chair of the Los Angeles County Beach Commission. He was also the Chapter Lead of the Transportation Chapter of recently published Fifth National Climate Assessment.
As former Chair of ASCE’s Committee on Sustainability, Liban has led efforts to develop a global sustainable infrastructure standard along with guidance documents that incorporate climate science into both the practice of civil engineering and the procurement and execution of sustainable infrastructures. He conceptualized and co-led the formation of the International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure in 2019, which has become a global coalition of almost 200,000 engineers and more than 10,000 cities worldwide. He is now working to increase sustainable infrastructure capacity building in Asia through the Asian Civil Engineering Coordinating Council. He also currently serves as Co-Chair of APTA’s Sustainability Commitment Committee.
In 2016, Liban received the Philippines’ highest civilian honor for Filipinos living overseas, the Pamana ng Pilipino Award, from Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. He was also awarded Engineering-News Record’s 2020 Award of Excellence for his focus on building a sustainable transportation system that economically and socially benefits all levels of society. He was elected to the National Academy of Construction in 2021 and was designated as a Distinguished Member of ASCE in 2022.
Liban’s global advocacy and philanthropic involvements are focused on: BIPOC, women and youth empowerment, social entrepreneurship, and advancement of the engineering and scientific professions, especially in underserved communities.
