The Lists: Top 10 Transportation Thought Leaders in Academia

Top10-2Earlier this year, Eno lost our longtime friend Aaron Gellman. Professor Gellman joined the faculty of the Kellogg School of Management in 1992 at Northwestern University as a professor of management and strategy—also serving 24 years as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania.  In 2015, Professor Gellman was presented with the Wilbur S. Smith Award for Service, which honors individuals who have given years of extraordinary support and service to Eno.  To further celebrate his legacy, this month Eno has partnered with the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) to identify 10 of the most forward-looking transportation academics in the field today. 

The passion with which Professor Gellman worked was inspirational and contagious. Our featured academics work in multi-modal disciplines that vary greatly from computer science, information systems, and engineering to public policy, planning, business and design.  In addition to grooming the next transportation workforce, this esteemed group leverages their resources and expertise to help solve real world transportation challenges through ongoing research and thought-leadership.

These talented academics carry on much of the visionary work that was so important to Professor Gellman. We benefited greatly from Professor Gellman’s presence and hope to preserve his memory by continuing the important work in which he was so deeply engaged.


Bhat2

Chandra Bhat

Director of the Center for Transportation Research and the Adnan Abou-Ayyash Centennial Professor in Transportation Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches courses in transportation systems analysis and transportation planning. A leading expert in the area of travel demand modeling and travel behavior analysis. In 2015, received the Frank M. Masters Transportation Engineering Award from ASCE. Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University, and masters in Transportation Engineering from Virginia Tech. (photo)


2

Ali Maher

Directs the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation and is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rutgers University. A pioneer in promoting collaboration with other universities and stakeholders to address our country’s most pressing transportation challenges, and a recognized expert in the areas of infrastructure asset management, nondestructive testing, environmental geotechnology, and new technology vehicles. Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, and masters in Geotechnical Engineering, both from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. (photo)


3

Hani Mahmasanni

Directs the Transportation Center, serves as the William A. Patterson Distinguished Chair in Transportation, and is a professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering, all at Northwestern University. Specializes in multimodal transportation systems analysis, planning and operations, dynamic network modeling and optimization, and transit network planning and design. Ph.D. in Transportation Systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and masters in Civil Engineering from Purdue University. (photo


6

Fred Mannering

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida. Focuses on the application of econometric and statistical methods to highway safety, transportation economics, automobile demand, and travel behavior. Has co-authored two books and is founding editor and editor-in-chief of Elsevier Science’s Analytic Methods in Accident Research. Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, masters in Civil Engineering from Purdue University. (photo


4

Steve Polzin

Director of mobility policy research at the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida. Carries out research in mobility analysis, public transportation, travel behavior, planning process development, and transportation decision-making. On the editorial board of the Journal of Public Transportation and serves on several Transportation Research Board and APTA Committees. Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, and masters in Urban Systems Engineering, both from Northwestern University. (photo


5

Raj Rajkumar

Serves as the George Westinghouse Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, directs the T-SET University Transportation Center, and co-directs both the General Motors-Carnegie Mellon Vehicular Information Technology Collaborative Research Lab and the General Motors-Carnegie Mellon Autonomous Driving Collaborative Research Lab, all at Carnegie Mellon University. Primary co-founder of TimeSys Corporation. Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. (photo


7

Megan Ryerson

Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning and Electrical and Systems Engineering in the area of Transportation at the University of Pennsylvania. Researches the tradeoff between economic development and environmental impacts presented by the air transportation system, and the design of resilient multimodal transportation system networks. Appointed in 2015 by the US Secretary of Transportation to serve on the Airport Cooperative Research Program Oversight Committee. Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. (photo

(Ed. Note: Dr. Ryerson was the subject of a recent ETW In the Spotlight interview. Read it here.)


8

Susan Shaheen

Co-directs the Transportation Sustainability Research Center and serves as an adjunct professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, both at the University of California at Berkeley. A leader in innovative mobility research, focusing on carsharing, ecodriving for private vehicles and freight, and smart parking management for transit and trucks. Served as the first Honda Distinguished Scholar in Transportation at the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis. Ph.D. in Ecology from UC Davis, and masters in Public Policy Analysis from the University of Rochester. (photo


9

Brian Taylor

Directs both the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies and the Institute of Transportation Studies, and is a professor of Urban Planning, all at the University of California at Los Angeles. Researches travel behavior, transportation finance, and politics and planning. Currently chair of a Transportation Research Board special report committee examining the public policy implications of new shared mobility systems. Ph.D. in Urban Planning from UCLA, and masters in City and Regional Planning as well as in Civil Engineering, both from UC Berkeley. (photo


10

Seth Young

Directs the Ohio State University’s Center for Aviation Studies, where he teaches and researches issues on airport and aviation system planning, operations, and management. Also on the faculty of the OSU College of Engineering as the John McConnell Chair of Aviation, and is Associate Director of Aviation and Aerospace Policy at OSU’s Battelle Center for Science and Technology Policy Research. Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering/Transportation, and masters in Industrial Engineering/Operations Research, both from the University of California at Berkeley. (photo

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