The Federal Investment in Highway Research, 2006-2009: Strengths and Weaknesses - Special Report 295 (2008)

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Study Committee Biographical Information E. Dean Carlson (NAE), Chair, an independent consultant, is retired Sec- retary of the Kansas Department of Transportation, a post he held for 8 years. Previously, he worked for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for 36 years in various positions, retiring in 1994 from the posi- tion of Executive Director, the highest career position in that agency. As FHWA’s Executive Director from 1990 to 1994, he helped guide the effort to establish a strategic vision for shaping the nation’s highway and highway safety programs. He was centrally involved in developing the U.S. Depart- ment of Transportation’s proposal for legislation to reauthorize federal highway programs in the period that preceded enactment of the landmark Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. Mr. Carlson served as the 2002 Chair of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Executive Committee and previously served as President of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). In 2001 he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineer- ing for “outstanding leadership and dedication in developing national highway policy, systems management initiatives, and research programs.” He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Nebraska and did postgraduate work at the University of Texas. Frances T. Banerjee has more than 30 years of experience in the public and private sectors. She assisted four mayors and numerous City Coun- cil members during her tenure in Los Angeles, where she served as Gen- eral Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, Assistant Chief Legislative Analyst, and Transportation Director of the LA Rede- velopment Agency. She managed the development and modernization of transportation systems that have become models nationwide, including 168 

Study Committee Biographical Information 169 the city’s software that is used for the award-winning Metropolitan Trans- portation Authority RapidBus Transit Program. She served on the city’s Emergency Operations Board and directed execution of the success- ful transportation plan for the 2000 Democratic National Convention. She chaired the TRB Committee on Large U.S. Cities and the National Association of City Transportation Officials. Before joining the City of Los Angeles, she managed transportation planning programs at the Southern California Association of Governments. She also worked as a Research Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Urban Systems Laboratory. Ms. Banerjee received her MA from Boston College with an emphasis on transportation planning. Her BA from Boston Col- lege (Newton College Campus) was in political science. John F. Conrad retired in 2008 from his position as Assistant Secretary for Engineering and Regional Operations for the Washington State Department of Transportation. In that position he oversaw the daily operations of the agency’s engineering, environmental, maintenance, and planning programs. In his 23 years with the department, he served in the following positions: Assistant Secretary for Field Operations Sup- port, Chief Maintenance Engineer, District Planning and Operations Engineer, Local Programs Operations Engineer, and Manager of the State Rail Program. He has also worked on highway program manage- ment for Parsons Brinckerhoff in the United Kingdom. He holds a bach- elor’s degree from the University of Nebraska and a master’s degree from Kansas State University. He is a registered professional engineer in the states of Washington and Kansas. Currently he is Chair of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) 2 Technical Coordinating Com- mittee for Reliability Research, and he is former Chair of the TRB Com- mittee on Maintenance and Operations Management. Arthur Dinitz is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Transpo Industries, Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of highway safety products and equipment. He has been a leader in promoting the development and use of new materials and technologies for more than 40 years. One of his primary areas of interest is how research results can be implemented more quickly. He serves on the Joint Committee of AASHTO–American General Contractors–American Road and Transportation Builders 

170 The Federal Investment in Highway Research 2006–2009: Strengths and Weaknesses Association and the AASHTO Technology Implementation Group. He holds several U.S. and foreign patents. Mr. Dinitz holds a bachelor of mechanical engineering degree from New York University. Daniel C. Murray is Vice President of Research for the American Trans- portation Research Institute (ATRI), formerly known as the ATA Foun- dation. He has overall responsibility for directing ATRI’s diverse portfolio of research initiatives. In addition, he has an extensive background in freight transportation planning and field testing of technology systems. Mr. Murray has served as a Project Manager on research initiatives spon- sored by FHWA, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cus- toms and Border Protection, and the Transportation Security Adminis- tration. Mr. Murray received his BA from Gustavus Adolphus College and his MS from Northwestern University. Timothy R. Neuman is Vice President and Chief Highway Engineer at CH2M Hill, a national engineering consulting firm. He has more than 25 years of experience in the planning and design of major highways, free- ways, and interchanges for more than 20 state departments of transporta- tion. Mr. Neuman is a nationally recognized expert in highway safety and traffic operations related to geometric design. He is active in the field of context-sensitive design through both project work and research. He is recipient of the Past Presidents’ Award of the Institute of Transportation Engineers and TRB’s D. Grant Mickle Award. He is a member of the Task Force for the Development of a Highway Safety Manual and is a former member of the TRB Committee on Geometric Design of High- ways. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan. Lawrence H. Orcutt is a 21-year veteran of the California Department of Transportation. He currently is Research and Innovation Division Chief, and he has also been Maintenance Division Chief. Recently he served 18 months as Acting Deputy Director for Maintenance and Operations. Mr. Orcutt received the 2002 Governor’s Safety Award for leadership and development of the Maintenance Safety Program. He is a member of TRB’s SHRP 2 Safety Technical Coordinating Committee and Cochair of the Committee on Technology Transfer. Mr. Orcutt is a lifetime mem- ber of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) and 

Study Committee Biographical Information 171 past Vice Chair of the AISES Board of Directors. He graduated from California State University, Sacramento, with a BS in civil engineering in 1979. He earned an MS in transportation management in June 2008 from San Jose State University, Business School, Mineta Transportation Institute. Leonard A. “Len” Sanderson is currently with Parsons Brinckerhoff. Pre- viously, he was State Highway Administrator for the North Carolina Department of Transportation, where he was responsible for precon- struction, operations and maintenance, and safety and loss control func- tions. He was with the department for 36 years and served in a number of positions, including manager of the department’s construction branch. He served on AASHTO’s Standing Committee on Highways, its Highway Subcommittee on Construction, and its National Partnership for High- way Quality. Mr. Sanderson also served on the TRB Task Force on Accel- erating Highway Innovation. He holds a bachelor of science degree from North Carolina State University and is a registered professional engineer. Constance S. “Connie” Sorrell is Chief of System Operations for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). She is the first person in VDOT to fill this position, which was established in 2004. Ms. Sorrell is responsible for a $1 billion annual budget. She directs all systems oper- ations and maintenance for the state highway system, including the plan- ning and delivery of programs and projects to alleviate congestion at traffic choke points, development of innovative ways to manage highway incidents, and use of Smart Travel and traveler information systems. Highway maintenance and snow- and ice-removal operations are also within her purview. In her previous posts, Ms. Sorrell has been interim Hampton Roads District Administrator, Chief of Policy and Organiza- tional Development, and Administrator for the Richmond District. She holds a BS in political science and economics from Radford University and has attended graduate school at the University of Amsterdam, Rad- ford University, and the University of Richmond. Ms. Sorrell is a gradu- ate of the AASHTO Executive Management Institute. She is a member of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America’s Board of Directors and Vice Chair of AASHTO’s Subcommittee on Operations, and she is former Chair of TRB’s Strategic Management Committee. Leslie “Les” Sterman is Executive Director of the East–West Gateway Coordinating Council, the metropolitan planning organization for the 

172 The Federal Investment in Highway Research 2006–2009: Strengths and Weaknesses St. Louis region. He joined the council in 1979 and attained his current position in 1983. Mr. Sterman is responsible for the council’s largest and most visible projects, including conceiving and planning the MetroLink light rail system. He has been an active spokesman for metropolitan transportation, community development, and environmental issues at the state and federal levels, and he has testified before several congres- sional committees and spoken at many national conferences on these subjects. Mr. Sterman has been President of the Missouri Association of Councils of Government, Cochair and Founding Member of the National Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, member of the TRB Executive Committee, and a member of the Steering Com- mittee of the Surface Transportation Policy Project. He served as Chair of the study committee that produced Special Report 257: Making Tran- sit Work: Insight from Western Europe, Canada, and the United States. He earned his BSCE in civil engineering and MS in urban and environmen- tal studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Joseph M. Sussman is J. R. East Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Engineering Systems Division at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he has served as a faculty member for 32 years. Dr. Sussman specializes in planning, invest- ment analysis, operations, management, design, and maintenance of complex systems, including transportation. He helped prepare the Strategic Plan for Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Research, a 20-year plan that has shaped the U.S. ITS program. His current research focus is on integrating ideas from strategic management, scenario build- ing, and technology architectures to develop a new methodology for regional strategic transportation planning. He currently serves as Chair of the ITS Advisory Committee. He is former Chair of the TRB Execu- tive Committee and has chaired and served on numerous TRB study and standing committees. Dr. Sussman holds a BCE from the City College of New York, an MSCE from the University of New Hampshire, and a PhD in civil engineering systems from MIT. Albert H. Teich is Director of Science and Policy Programs at the Amer- ican Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific association. Previously, Dr. Teich served as Deputy Director of the Graduate Program in Science, Technology, and 

Study Committee Biographical Information 173 Public Policy at the George Washington University; Visiting Research Professor of Public Affairs at the State University of New York at Albany; and Director of Research for the Institute for Public Policy Alternatives for the State University of New York. He serves on the boards of visitors for the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Center for Science, Policy, and Outcomes at Columbia University. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Sci- ence, the Technology Transfer Society, the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, the Society for Social Studies of Science, and Sigma Xi. Dr. Teich holds a bachelor of science degree in physics and a PhD in political science from MIT. Paul T. Wells is retired from his position as Assistant Commissioner and Chief Engineer, New York State Department of Transportation. He previ- ously served in a number of positions for the department, including Deputy Chief Engineer for Construction and Director of the Construction Division. He had more than 30 years of experience in planning, design, and construction in both regional and headquarters offices in the department before his retirement. Mr. Wells has served as Vice Chairman of the AASHTO Highway Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures. He is a Fel- low of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He serves on a variety of study panels for the National Cooperative Highway Research Program and was a member of TRB’s Task Force on Design–Build and Committee on Construction Management. Mr. Wells holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Kevin C. Womack is Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the Utah Transportation Center at Utah State University. His specialty is struc- tural engineering. He served as a Congressional Fellow on the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in the period pre- ceding the 2005 authorization of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Act: A Legacy for Users. The American Society of Civil Engineers sponsored the fellowship under the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows program. Since that time, Mr. Womack has served as Chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ National Transportation Policy Committee. He has received several awards for exemplary teaching, research, and advising at Utah State University.