WASHINGTON — Nathaniel P. Ford Sr. and Shawn Wilson have been appointed as chair and vice chair, respectively, of the 2022 Transportation Research Board (TRB) Executive Committee by Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences and chair of the National Research Council. Their terms will begin in January 2022 during the 101st TRB Annual Meeting.

The TRB Executive Committee is composed of approximately 25 members, appointed by the chair of the National Research Council. These members are selected to provide balanced representation of transportation modes, academic disciplines, private and public sectors, levels of government, geographical regions, and other relevant factors. The committee provides strategic direction and oversight for all of TRB’s programs and activities.

Nathaniel Ford is the chief executive officer of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority. He is currently serving as vice chair of the Executive Committee and has served in the past as the chair of the committee’s International Subcommittee and the Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion. He is past chair of the American Public Transportation Association, and his distinguished career includes tenures as CEO of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.

“TRB is very pleased that Nat Ford will become the next chair of the TRB Executive Committee,” said TRB Executive Director Neil Pedersen. “He is a respected national leader in transportation who is always looking for innovative ways to deliver better transportation service to the public.”

Shawn Wilson is secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. He is currently chair of the research panel for the National Cooperative Highway Research Program on the Administration of Highway and Transportation Agencies, and vice president of the Board of Directors of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials; he is soon due to become president.

“Shawn Wilson has been a thought leader and major contributor to the TRB Executive Committee. He is a great supporter of research and currently chairs the TRB committee on policy research for chief executives of state departments of transportation,” said Pedersen.

The following four people have been appointed as new members of the Executive Committee, with three-year terms starting on Jan. 13, 2022:

• ·James F. Albaugh (member, National Academy of Engineering), retired president and CEO, Commercial Airplanes, Boeing Co.

• Drew K. Kodjak, executive director, International Council on Clean Transportation

• Carol A. Lewis, professor, Transportation Studies, Texas Southern University

• Steward T.A. Pickett (member, National Academy of Sciences), distinguished senior scientist, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

Eight current members of the Executive Committee have been reappointed to new three-year terms. They are:

• Michael F. Ableson, chief executive officer, Arrival Automotive-North America

• Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, commissioner, New Jersey Department of Transportation

• Stephen W. Hargarten (member, National Academy of Medicine), director, Injury Research Center; associate dean, Office of Global Health; and professor of emergency medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin

• Chris T. Hendrickson (member, National Academy of Engineering), Duquesne Light Professor of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

• Ashby Johnson, executive director, Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, Austin, Texas

• Julie Lorenz, secretary, Kansas Department of Transportation

• Michael R. McClellan, vice president, Strategic Planning, Norfolk Southern Corp.

Additionally, as sponsors of TRB’s core technical program, the administrators of seven agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation have been appointed to serve as ex officio members of the Executive Committee, in addition to Stephanie Pollack, acting administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, who is already a member of the committee. The ex officio members are:

• Amit Bose, deputy administrator, Federal Rail Administration

• Tristan Brown, acting administrator, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

• Steven Cliff, acting administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

• Stephen M. Dickson, administrator, Federal Aviation Administration

• Nuria I. Fernandez, administrator, Federal Transit Administration

• Robert Hampshire, deputy assistant secretary for research and technology, U.S. Department of Transportation

• Meera Joshi, deputy administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

The mission of TRB is to provide leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisciplinary, and multimodal. Its annual meeting provides an opportunity for transportation professionals from all over the world to exchange information of common interest. Typically, more than 14,000 policymakers, administrators, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of government, industry, and academic institutions attend the TRB Annual Meeting. The 101st annual meeting will be held from Jan. 9 to 13, 2022. The meeting program will cover all transportation modes, and the spotlight theme is Innovating an Equitable, Resilient, Sustainable, and Safe Transportation System.

TRB is a program unit of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine — private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. The National Academies operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.

Contact:
Paul Mackie
Director of Communications/Media
Transportation Research Board
pmackie@nas.edu