E. Dean
Carlson, president of Carlson Associates, is the 2003 recipient of the W.N.
Carey, Jr., Distinguished Service Award for his leadership and service to
transportation research and to the Transportation Research Board (TRB). Carlson
received the award today during the Chairman's Luncheon at the TRB 83rd Annual
Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Created by
the TRB Executive Committee in 1972 as the Highway Research Board Distinguished
Service Award, the award was renamed in 1987 to honor W.N. Carey, Jr., who served
as the TRB Executive Director from 1967 until 1980.
Carlson
began his 36-year career with the Federal Highway Administration (then the
Bureau of Public Roads) in 1958 as a highway engineer, progressing through a
variety of positions and division offices and at the agency's headquarters in
Washington, D.C. From 1990 until his retirement in 1994, he served as FHWA's
executive director, the agency's highest career position. Carlson subsequently
re-entered public service as Kansas Secretary of Transportation, retiring from
that post in 2003.
Throughout
his career, Carlson has championed the importance of research in advancing the
goals of improved performance, cost effectiveness and safety of the nation's
highway system. He contributed to the launching of the Strategic Highway
Research Program, served as FHWA's liaison to the SHRP Executive Committee and
later played an instrumental role in the agency's assumption of responsibility
for Long-Term Pavement Performance and implementation activities stemming from
SHRP.
