The Richard P. Braun Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to a transportation professional for outstanding leadership in research and innovation. It is named after founding CTS director Richard Braun for his leadership and contribution to research, and as a champion of transportation innovation.
2020 Recipient

This year’s recipient is Carol Shield, a College of Science and Engineering Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geo- Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Shield has been involved with more than 30 transportation-related research projects funded by MnDOT, NSF, NCHRP, and the Army Corp of Engineers. Her primary research areas are the use of fiber-reinforced polymers in infrastructure and the behavior of prestressed concrete girders. She was the director of the University’s MAST Laboratory from 2004–2015.
Past Winners
2019
Gary Davis, Professor, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, University of Minnesota
2018
Greg Lindsey, Professor, Humphrey School of Public Affairs
2017
Mary Vogel, Co-director, Center for Changing Landscapes, University of Minnesota
2016
John Gulliver, Professor, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, University of Minnesota
2015
Timothy Henkel, Assistant Commissioner and Director of the Modal Planning and Program Management Division, Minnesota Department of Transportation
2014
Yingling Fan, McKnight Land-Grant Assistant Professor, Humphrey School of Public Affairs
2013
Nikolaos Papanikolopoulos, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
2012
Robert C. Johns, Director, U.S. Department of Transportation's John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
2011
David Levinson, Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
2010
Lee Munnich, Director, State and Local Policy Program and the Center for Excellence in Rural Safety, Humphrey School of Public Affairs
2009
Gene Skok, Adjunct Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
2008
Randy Halvorson, Senior Associate, Cambridge Systematics
2007
Max Donath, Director, Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
2006
Kathryn Swanson, Director, Department of Public Safety
2005
Catherine French, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Metropolitan State University
2004
John S. Adams, Professor and Chair, Department of Geography; faculty, Humphrey School of Public Affairs
2003
Robert Benke, Principal engineer, Community Resource Partnerships
2002
Panos Michalopoulos, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
2001
Barbara Lukermann, Senior fellow, Humphrey School of Public Affairs; senior fellow, Center for Urban andRegional Affairs
2000
David Kittelson, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering: co-director, Center for Diesel Research
1999
James Denn, Former commissioner, Mn/DOT
1998
Fred Beier, Executive Committee chair
1997
Ted Galambos, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
1996
Roger Appeldorn
1995
Miles Kersten, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering