Study Committee Biographical Information
James W. Poirot, Chair, is Chairman Emeritus at CH2M Hill, Inc. He has been with CH2M Hill since 1953. He is a Fellow and past President of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a Fellow and past President of the American Consulting Engineers Council, and a board member of the Civil Engineering Research Foundation. Mr. Poirot is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a member of the National Research Council’s Committee on International Organizations and Programs. Mr. Poirot’s areas of expertise and interest include environmental engineering, international issues, and engineering management. He received a B.S. in civil engineering from Oregon State University.
Kenneth D. Boyer is Professor of Economics at Michigan State University. His research deals with transportation demand and the economics of regulation. His text, Principles of Transportation Economics, was published in 1998. He received a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College and a master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Professor Boyer was a member of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee for the Study of Public Policy for Surface Freight Transportation.
Robert G. Dulla is a Senior Partner at Sierra Research, Inc., an air pollution consulting firm, which he joined in 1986. Previously he was with Energy and Environmental Analysis, Inc., and TRB. He is the author of numerous papers and technical reports on motor vehicle emissions and fuel economy. Mr. Dulla was a member of TRB’s Committee for a Study of Impacts of Highway Capacity Improvements on Air Quality and Energy Consumption.
Nicholas J. Garber is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Virginia. His research is in traffic operations and highway safety, including the effects of truck dimensions on safety. He has taught at the State University of New York at
Buffalo and at the University of Sierra Leone. He is a member of TRB’s Committee for Guidance on Setting and Enforcing Speed Limits. Dr. Garber is a registered professional engineer in Virginia and a Chartered Engineer of Great Britain. He received a B.Sc. from the University of London and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Carnegie-Mellon University.
Thomas D. Gillespie is Senior Research Scientist and Adjunct Professor and former Director of the Great Lakes Center for Truck and Transit Research at the University of Michigan. His research is in vehicle dynamics and vehicle-roadway interaction. He has been at Michigan since 1976, except for service in 1987–1988 as a Senior Policy Analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. From 1973 to 1976 he was with Ford Motor Company. Dr. Gillespie is the author of Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics (Warrendale, Society of Automotive Engineers, 1992). He was a member of TRB’s Committee for a Study of Consumer Automotive Safety Information. He holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University, an M.S. from Penn State, and a B.S. from Carnegie Institute of Technology.
Ezra Hauer is Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto. His research is in methodology for evaluation of safety countermeasures, design of experiments in traffic safety research, and transportation safety management. He holds B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. from the University of California.
James H. Kopf is the Chief Engineer/Deputy Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) in Jackson. He is responsible for development and execution of all technical policies and procedures for MDOT. He also exercises general or technical supervision of all functions of MDOT. Mr. Kopf has served with MDOT for 35 years. He is a graduate of Mississippi State University and holds a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and a licensed Professional Land Surveyor in Mississippi. He serves on the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ Standing Committee on Highways, Study Committee on Quality, Special Committee on the Transportation-Related Activities Center, Standing Committee on Highway Traffic Safety, and Subcommittee on Transportation Systems Management.
Sue McNeil is Director of the Urban Transportation Center of the University of Illinois, Chicago. Until 2000, she was Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie-Mellon University. Her research is in analytical methods for management of transportation infrastructure. She received B.Sc. and B.E. degrees from the University of Newcastle (Australia) and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Carnegie-Mellon.
Eugene E. Ofstead was with the Minnesota Department of Transportation for 38 years before his retirement in 1999. His latest position was Assistant Commissioner for Transportation Research and Investment Management. His past assignments included Assistant Commissioner for Engineering Services and Assistant Commissioner for Research and Strategic Initiatives. He received a bachelor of civil engineering degree from the University of Minnesota in 1959.
John R. Pearson is Program Director for the Council of Deputy Ministers responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety, Ottawa, Ontario. The Council is composed of senior officials from the federal, provincial, and territorial governments. He also serves as secretary and technical consultant to the Task Force on Vehicle Weights and Dimensions Policy, composed of representatives of the federal, provincial, and territorial governments. Mr. Pearson was formerly with the Canadian Trucking Research Institute, Transportation Association of Canada, and Western Highway Institute. He was the director of the Vehicle Weights and Dimensions Study, a nationwide government-industry joint research program. Mr. Pearson is a registered professional engineer in Ontario and received a bachelor of engineering degree from Carleton University.
F. Gerald Rawling is the Director of Operations Analysis of the Chicago Area Transportation Study, a metropolitan planning organization. He has conducted and published many studies of freight planning issues. He has an M.A. from Trinity College, Cambridge, and an M.S. from Northwestern University.
James E. Roberts retired in 2001 from the California Department of Transportation, where his positions included Chief Deputy Director, Chief of the Engineering Services Center, and Chief of the Division of Structures. He is an expert in bridge design, maintenance, and seismic
retrofit. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Mr. Roberts received a B.S. in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.S. in structural engineering from the University of Southern California.
John S. Strong is Professor of Finance and Economics at the College of William and Mary. His research interests include transportation management and airline safety. He has a B.A. from Washington and Lee University and an M.P.P. and Ph.D. from Harvard University.
C. Michael Walton is the E. H. Cockrell Centennial Chairman of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He was formerly chair of the TRB Executive Committee, chair of the TRB Committee for the Study of Relationships Between Vehicle Configurations and Highway Design, and member of the TRB Committee for the Study of Public Policy for Surface Freight Transportation. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He received a B.S. degree from Virginia Military Institute and a master’s and Ph.D from North Carolina State University.