John R. Cooper came out of retirement to serve as Alabama’s Transportation Director effective January 17, 2011. From 2002 to 2008, John was Chief Executive Officer of Avocent Corporation in Huntsville, a global provider of information technology infrastructure management; he was chairman of Avocent from 2003 to 2008.

John has a business background that has seen him serve as a CEO, CFO, Corporate Vice President and as a partner in large accounting firms. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting from the University of Alabama.