Leininger joined DART as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer in December 2008. He oversees all financial activities including budgeting, financial planning, reengineering, total quality management, investments, Federal funding, debt financing, payroll efficiency reviews, accounts payable, and general accounting for the Agency. In February 2012, he was promoted to Executive Vice President and given the additional oversight of the Information Technology, Marketing & Communications, Procurement, and Risk Management departments.

Prior to joining DART, Leininger was associated with the City of Irving for five years, serving initially in the capacity of CFO and subsequently as Managing Director of Development Services and Economic Initiatives. His previous public sector experience includes positions as Budget Director and Director of the Office of Economic Development for the City of Dallas and Fiscal Services Administrator for the City of Garland.

Leininger spent nearly twenty-five years in the private sector in a variety of real estate development roles, including Senior Vice President and Managing Director of the Recreational Real Estate practice of Economics Research Associates, Chief Executive Officer of ClubCorp Realty, Chief Operating Officer of Triland International, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Network Security, Founder and Chairman of MultiNet Communications Corporation, Founder and Chairman of Community Management Associates, and Vice President and General Manager of the Las Colinas Association which serves the 6,500 acres Las Colinas development in Irving, Texas.

Leininger was named 2011 CFO of the Year for Governmental Agencies by the Dallas Business Journal. He is Financial Management Committee Chair of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and a member of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). He is also a member of the Urban Land Institute where he sites on their TOD Product Council, and a former member of the National Program Committee.

He has a BA in Political Science and Economics from St. Benedict’s College in Atchison, Kansas and an MPA from the University of Kansas, Lawrence.