Publications:

• Newsletters and Journals
• Annual Reports
• Research Reports
• Proceedings & Presentations
• Technical Assistance Resources
• Videos
• Subscribe
• Order

September 2006

Current Issue | Previous Issues | Subscribe

Braun Chair reaches fundraising goal;
David Levinson named inaugural chair

The three-year fundraising campaign for the Richard P. Braun CTS Chair in Transportation Engineering has reached its goal of $500,000 in private and industry support. More than 130 honored donors, fundraising committee members, and transportation faculty celebrated the successful campaign July 27 in Minneapolis.

Braun is the founding director of CTS and a former commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT). In addition to Braun, speakers at the celebration included current director Robert Johns; John Gulliver, head of the University’s Department of Civil Engineering (CE); Doug Differt, Mn/DOT deputy commissioner; and Bob Roscoe, SRF Consulting Group.

In addition to donor gifts (see table below), the CE department and CTS are providing matching funds for a total $1.5 million endowment. CTS is committing royalties from the Autoscope video detection system, which was invented by CE professor Panos Michalopoulos and patented by the University.

In other news, the selection committee for the Braun CTS Chair was unanimous in recommending that Associate Professor David Levinson, a CTS Faculty Scholar, be appointed the inaugural chair. The appointment will be effective fall semester 2006, says Gulliver. He also announced that the funds available for the Braun CTS Chair allow the department to expand its transportation engineering faculty. A search will begin this fall for a new faculty member.

The Braun CTS Chair in Transportation Engineering is a leadership position that will build on the legacy started by Professor Matthew Huber. Under Levinson’s leadership, the transportation engineering program will be expanded to include a combination of the following:

• New undergraduate courses in transportation and traffic planning, design, and engineering
• New short courses for professionals in transportation and traffic planning, design, and engineering
• A series of seminars or workshops at various locations for government and private sector transportation engineers
  

“David Levinson’s reputation as an academic scholar is well known in the department, with numerous journal publications and three books published,” says Gulliver. “What is not well known is his commitment to students, which is demonstrated through his role as the founding faculty advisor to the Interdisciplinary Transportation Student Organization (ITSO).”

ITSO grew to 150 student members in two years and is active with five professional organizations related to transportation in Minnesota. “ITSO is now capable of bringing transportation professional groups together,” Gulliver added, “and they are all benefiting from David’s work with the student chapter.”

Braun Chair Major Donors

$25,000	$15,000	$10,000
URS Robert Gravier (Allan Block) Richard and Faith Colemen C. S. McCrossan, Inc. Ames Construction, Inc.	Edward Bather Braun Intertec Corporation Richard P. Braun HNTB Corporation Progressive Contractors, Inc. Short Elliot Hendrickson, Inc. SRF Consulting Group WSB and Associates, Inc. Ziegler	American Engineering Testing

Many below $10,000.