Study Committee Biographical Information
C. Michael Walton, Chairman, is professor of civil engineering and holds the Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition, he has a joint academic appointment in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. He is a founding member of ITS America, chairing its Technical Coordinating Council and serving on its board of directors. He is a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), and a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, Urban Land Institute, Society of American Military Engineers, Society of Automotive Engineers, Council of University Transportation Centers, and National Society of Professional Engineers. He is a past chair of TRB’s Executive Committee and on the board of directors of both the International Road Federation and the International Road Educational Foundation.
Allan L. Abbott is the director of public works for the city of Lincoln, Nebraska. Previously he was with Wilbur Smith Associates, and was the director and state engineer of the Nebraska Department of Roads from 1991 to 1999. He worked for the Illinois Division of Highways from 1961 to 1991. He served as chairman of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Standing Committee on Research and is currently chairman of the TRB Long-Term Pavement Performance Committee. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and a master’s from Sangamon State University.
Joel D. Anderson has been the executive vice president of the California Trucking Association (CTA) since 1992. He joined the association in 1977 as a regulatory specialist. Previously he served as assistant executive vice president of industry economic development and was responsible for the association’s research, educational, and regulatory activities. Before joining CTA he was an economist for the California Public Util-
ities Commission. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Dwight M. Bower is director of the Idaho Transportation Department. Before his appointment in 1993, he worked for the Colorado Department of Transportation (DOT) starting in 1957. A graduate of the University of Colorado, he has served on the TRB Executive Committee as well as several TRB, AASHTO, and National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) committees. He was co-chairman of the National Quality Initiative in 1992 and has chaired the TRB Task Force on Innovative Contracting Practices. He currently serves on the AASHTO Board of Directors and is chairman of its Standing Committee on Research.
Richard P. Braun, consultant, founded the University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies, serving as director from its inception until his retirement. He was the commissioner of the Minnesota DOT from 1979 to 1986 and president of AASHTO in 1985. Previously he worked more than 30 years in different posts with the Minnesota Department of Highways. He also served as a vice president and principal associate with Barton-Aschman Associates, Inc., directing projects in the Twin Cities Office. He served on the TRB Executive Committee and on the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) Executive Committee and as chairman of the Twin Cities Area Metropolitan Airports Commission.
John E. Breen holds the Nasser I. Al-Rashid Chair in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. From 1962 to 1985 he was the director of the Phil M. Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory at the university. Elected to NAE in 1976, he is an honorary member of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and has served as chair of the ACI Building Code group. He is a fellow of ASCE and a member of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering.
Forrest M. Council is currently a staff associate at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, which he served as director from 1993 through July 1999. He also is associated with Bellomo-McGee, Inc. He is a member of TRB standing committees on Roadside Safety Features and Traffic Records and Accident Analysis,
and of the NCHRP Oversight Panel for Project 17-11, “Determination of Safe/Cost-Effective Roadside Slopes and Associated Clear Distances.” He chaired the Committee on Methodology for Evaluating Highway Improvements. He is a past president of the National Child Passenger Safety Association and a member of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine. Twice he has received TRB’s D. Grant Mickle Award for best paper in the area of operations, safety, and maintenance. Previously he served on the TRB Committee for the Study of Relationships Between Vehicle Configurations and Highway Design and the Committee for Guidance on Setting and Enforcing Speed Limits.
Frank L. Danchetz is the chief engineer for the Georgia DOT. A graduate of Georgia Institute of Technology, he has been with the department since 1971. He is responsible for highway planning, operations, and maintenance throughout the state. He currently serves on the AASHTO Standing Committee on Research and is the vice chairman of the AASHTO Standing Committee on Highways; he is the chairman of the AASHTO National Transportation Product Evaluation Program.
Henry (Hank) E. Dittmar is president of the Great American Station Foundation. Previously he was campaign director of the Surface Transportation Policy Project, a coalition of environmental, consumer, and planning groups that focuses on the policy implications of transportation programs. He has managed a bus line and an urban airport and has worked for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in Oakland. He is active on several TRB committees, including the Committee on Intergovernmental Relations and Policy.
Irwin Feller is director of the Institute for Policy Research and Evaluation and professor of economics at the Pennsylvania State University. He is a specialist in technology transfer and innovation processes, with particular emphasis on state and local government and university-industry-government research-and-development partnerships. He has authored numerous publications addressing the issues of technology transfer and innovation in the public sector. He is a member of the American Economic Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
Nancy D. Fitzroy is retired from the General Electric Company’s Corporate Research and Development Division. A chemical engineer whose specialty is heat transfer, she was elected to NAE in 1995. She is a fellow and a past president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering International and an honorary fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (UK). She holds honorary doctorates from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Larry R. Goode is the director of transportation planning, policy, and finance at the Institute for Transportation Research and Education, North Carolina State University. He previously served as state highway administrator for the North Carolina DOT, where he began work in 1972. He serves on several committees of ITE and AASHTO and on several NCHRP project panels. He is a registered professional engineer in North Carolina and Virginia.
Jack Kay currently serves as executive transportation adviser to SAIC, an employee-owned technology company with a specialty practice in transportation and transportation research. He previously served as president of JHK & Associates, a national transportation consulting firm acquired by SAIC. He has served as an adviser to the World Bank on transportation planning and traffic engineering in many developing countries. He was chair of the board of directors of ITS America, is a fellow of ITE, and chaired the ITE Intelligent Vehicle-Highway System Advisory Committee from 1990 to 1993.
Joe P. Mahoney is the Inger and Allan Osberg Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Washington. A specialist in pavement and materials engineering, he has also served as the director of the University’s Transportation and Construction Engineering Program and as the director of the Washington State Transportation Center. He recently worked with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Pretoria, South Africa, to assess the applicability of its pavement research results to U.S. conditions. He served on the SHRP Pavement Performance Advisory Committee and the SHRP-IDEA Advisory Committee.
Michael M. Ryan is the deputy secretary for highway administration of the Pennsylvania DOT. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Bucknell University, he has been a member of the department since 1968. He is responsible for all design, construction, and maintenance activities in the state. Previously he served as chief engineer, district engineer, and director of the Bureau of Maintenance.
Thomas A. (Tommy) Smith is a transportation consultant in Orlando, Florida. He was previously the vice president of T.Y. Lin International’s Michigan operation, based in Detroit, where he oversaw business development and managed the structural and civil engineering firm’s office. Before that he served for 10 years as the deputy commissioner and chief traffic engineer for the Chicago DOT. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Roosevelt University.
David Spivey is executive vice president of the Asphalt Paving Association of Washington, Inc. He has been involved in asphalt paving construction since 1971; he also has served as a state director of the National Asphalt Pavement Association. Previously he was vice president of CSR Associated, Inc., an international construction and building materials company based in Washington.
Dale F. Stein is president emeritus of Michigan Technological University, where he also served on the faculties of the Department of Metallurgical Engineering and the Department of Mining Engineering. He is past president of the Metallurgical Society of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers and was named a fellow in 1979. He also is a fellow of the American Society of Metals. He was elected to NAE in 1986.
David K. Willis is the president and CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. He has also served as director of the ATA Foundation, Inc., and as the director of policy research for the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association. He is a member of TRB’s Committee on Safety and Mobility of Older Drivers and a member of the board of directors of the National Sleep Foundation.
The Transportation Research Board is a unit of the National Research Council, which serves the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. The Board’s mission is to promote innovation and progress in transportation by stimulating and conducting research, facilitating the dissemination of information, and encouraging the implementation of research results. The Board's varied activities annually engage more than 4,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purpose of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both the Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Engineering
Institute of Medicine
National Research Council
