Honoring Our Volunteers

The leadership and volunteer contributions of Dr. Mary R. Brooks, Dr. Jon A. Epps, Timothy A. Henkel, Dr. Daniel Turner, Dr. Patricia L. Mokhtarian, Keith Killough, James Winebrake, Hyun-A Park, Michael F. Trentacoste, and Bruce M. Smith are recognized by TRB and the National Academies. Every year, over 7,000 dedicated individuals serve without compensation on study and oversight committees or as reviewers of National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine reports. Their service is valued, honored, and appreciated both within the organization and by the nation. The National Associates program, established in 2001, formally recognizes the National Academies’ most dedicated volunteers for their outstanding contributions. NAS president Marcia McNutt designated the following individuals for this special lifetime honor. "We thank the following TRB volunteers for your service and congratulate you on receiving this special honor," says TRB Executive Director Neil Pedersen.

Dr. Mary R. Brooks has been actively engaged in TRB’s work since 1993, chairing its Committee on International Trade and Transportation (2002-2008), serving on the consensus study Committee for “Funding Options for Freight Transportation Projects of National Significance” (2007-2009), and serving on the Transportation Research Record Review Advisory Board (2006-2016). She was appointed a TRB Emeritus Member of the Committee on International Trade and Transportation in 2014. She was appointed to the TRB Marine Board in 2008 and served as Vice Chair from 2012-2015, and ultimately Chair from 2016-2018. While Chair, she simultaneously held ex-officio roles on the TRB Executive Committee and Subcommittee on Planning and Policy Review. When serving in those roles, Dr. Brooks was tapped to chair the Executive Committee’s Subcommittee on International Activities. Even after her rotation out of top TRB leadership roles, Dr. Brooks continues to lead a steering committee for the development of a TR News theme issue for 2021 with content addressing innovations in marine transportation.

 

 

Since 1969, Dr. Jon A. Epps has chaired or been a member of more than 20 TRB committees, sections, groups, panels, and task forces in the areas of asphalt materials, mixtures and pavements; recycling; transportation energy; pavement design, maintenance, and operation; pavement construction; and others. He chaired the TRB committee that helped develop the definitive “Hot Mix Asphalt Paving Handbook.” Dr. Epps was also a member of the TRB policy study committee that explored approaches for increasing private-sector involvement in the highway innovation process, which foreshadowed the vast potential of private industry to provide the innovative products and services necessary to meet the growing and changing demands on the transportation system. As an Emeritus Member of the TRB Standing Technical Committee on Critical Issues and Emerging Technologies in Asphalt, Dr. Epps continues to provide leadership to this key TRB Committee.

 

 

Timothy A. Henkel is currently serving his second term as chair of the TRB Research and Technology Coordinating Committee, which has produced multiple reports advising the Federal Highway Administration on its R&D programs. He previously served on the Committee on Strategies for Improved Passenger and Freight Travel Data. He currently chairs the TRB Standing Committee on Transportation Asset Management and the NCHRP Project Panel on Transportation Asset Management Strategic Planning and Research Roadmap Development. He is past chair of the NCHRP Project Panel on Guidebook on Agency Risk Management Strategies, Methods, and Tools and was a member of the Planning Committee for the 11th National Conference on Transportation Asset Management.

 

Dr. Daniel Turner has provided more than 35 years of continuous, uninterrupted service on some 20 TRB committees, panels, or task forces. He is a former chair of the Technical Activities Operations Section and chair of TRB’s Technical Activities Council, the committee that provides oversight and strategic direction for all of TRB’s standing technical committees, its annual meeting, its conferences and workshops, and Transportation Research Record. He also represented the Technical Activities Council on the TRB Executive Committee as well as the committee’s Subcommittee on Planning and Policy Review. He is an emeritus member of the TRB Technical Activities Committee on Operational Effects of Geometrics.

 

 

Since 1988, Dr. Patricia L. Mokhtarian has provided continued service as a chair or member of six different TRB standing committees or subcommittees. In recognition of her service, she is an Emeritus Member of the Standing Committees on Effects of Information and Communication Technologies on Travel Choices and Traveler Behavior and Values. Dr. Mokhtarian was also a member of the committee that produced “TRB Special Report 298: Driving and the Built Environment: Effects of Compact Development on Motorized Travel, Energy Use, and CO2 Emissions.” The report estimates the contributions that changes in residential and mixed-use development patterns and transit investments could make to reducing vehicle miles traveled by 2030, and then also by 2050, and the impact this could have on meeting future transportation-related greenhouse gas reduction goals.

 

 

Keith Killough has chaired and served as a member of several TRB study committees and panels. He was key member of the Future of the Interstate Highway Committee, and is active in disseminating, “Renewing the National Commitment to the Interstate Highway System: A Foundation for the Future.” Previously he served on the Committee on the Intercity Passenger Travel: Opportunities and Issues in Short-Haul Markets, which produced the consensus report "Interregional Travel: New Perspectives for Policymaking." Killough was a member of the Committee for Review of Travel Demand Modeling by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. He currently chairs the NCHRP Panel on “Traffic Forecasting Accuracy Assessment Research.” He previously chaired the NCHRP Panel on Establishing Application and Policy Sensitivity in Travel Demand Models and the TCRP Panel on “Characteristics of Urban Travel Demand.” He was a member of the Planning Committee on “Using Census Data for Transportation Applications.” In addition, he was a peer reviewer for “Metropolitan Travel Forecasting: Current Practice and Future Direction.

 

 

Dr. James Winebrake recently chaired the TRB consensus study Committee for Truck Size and Weight Limits Research Planning. He previously chaired the consensus study Committee for a "Review of U.S. Department of Transportation Truck Size and Weight Study." Winebrake served as a member of the consensus study on "Policy Options for Reducing Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from U.S. Transportation" and on the TRB/BEES consensus study Committee to Assess Fuel Economy of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles. In addition, he was a peer reviewer for “Critical Issues in Transportation 2019."

Hyun-A Park currently serves as chair of TRB’s Technical Activities Council, which provides oversight and strategic direction for all of TRB’s standing technical committees, its annual meeting, its conferences and workshops, and Transportation Research Record. The council also assists in identifying emerging topics of interest to transportation community and cross-cutting issues, and fosters outreach efforts to other transportation organizations. She has also served as Policy and Organization Group Chair and TRB’s Management and Leadership Section. In addition, Park has served as chair of TRB’s Standing Technical Committee on Strategic Management. She has been a long-time member of two standing technical committees, two conference committees, and TRB’s Special Committee on Inclusion and Diversity.

 

 

A tireless advocate for safety, Michael F. Trentacoste has served as member and chair of TRB’s Standing Committee on Transportation Safety Management. He has also served as a member of the Technical Activities Division’s Safety Section, which provides general oversight to nine committees and two task forces that propose research, share research findings, sponsor special activities, and provide a forum for transportation professionals to discuss today's and tomorrow's safety-related transportation issues. He was the federal liaison to the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Technical Coordinating Committee for Safety Research that helped oversee SHRP 2’s Naturalist Driving Study, which resulted in the largest collection of data on driving behavior. In addition, Trentacoste has been a key player in development of the strategies designed to ensure that SHRP 2’s research results are implemented to improve the way transportation professionals plan, operate, maintain, and ensure safety on America’s roadways. He has also been a member and federal liaison to eight other committees, panels, and task forces. Most recently he has served on the TRB Executive Committee’s Task Force on International Activities and is currently a member of the Executive Committee’s Centennial Planning Task Force.

 

 

Bruce M. Smith, Esquire has provided continuous volunteer serves to TRB as a standing committee, group, or council member for more than 23 years. Also active in the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Smith is the only lawyer to have ever served as the chair of the TRB Legal Resources Group, the TRB Standing Committee on Transit and Intermodal Transportation Law, and the APTA Legal Affairs Committee. He also holds the distinction of being the first transit lawyer to hold the positon of chair of the Legal Resources Group and is a recipient of the Group’s Eleven Foot Pole Award. Smith is credited with developing the format of, and was a reviewer for TCRP’s “Selected Studies in Transportation Law, Vol. 5: Transit Law."