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Dennis L. Christiansen, Ph.D., P.E.

Dennis L. Christiansen, Ph.D., P.E.

Director, TTI
TTI Administration - Wells Fargo Plaza, Room 502G
Texas Transportation Institute
The Texas A&M University System
3135 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3135
ph. (979) 845-1713 · fax (979) 845-9356
dennis-c@tamu.edu

Short Biography

Dr. Christiansen has been a member of the staff of the Texas Transportation Institute for 33 years. He is presently Director of the Institute and has overall responsibility for a research program. TTI is a state agency and the largest university-affiliated transportation research center in the United States.

Dr. Christiansen has extensive research experience in several areas, including traffic operations, transportation planning, and transit planning. He has served as principal investigator on several major research projects that have been undertaken for a variety of sponsors, including the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, the Texas Department of Transportation, and the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Houston). Dr. Christiansen has become recognized as an international expert in the planning, design, operation and evaluation of preferential facilities for high-occupancy vehicles.

He has served as president of the International Institute of Transportation Engineers, the Council of University Transportation Centers, and the Research and Education Division of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association.

A mission of TTI is to enhance the quality of education at Texas A&M University. As part of this mission, the Institute employs approximately 200 students. From 1990 to 1992, Dr. Christiansen was a member of the Civil Engineering faculty as a Visiting Associate Professor. He developed and taught a new graduate civil engineering course entitled Public Transportation Planning, Operation and Management (CVEN 689PT). During this period Dr. Christiansen served as a member of several graduate student committees. While with TTI, he has employed and supervised a large number of both undergraduate and graduate students.

During his career, Dr. Christiansen has received numerous significant awards. In 1979 he received the Transportation Research Board's Fred Burgraff Award. The International Institute of Transportation Engineers awarded him their Technical Paper Award in 1984 and the Technical Council Award in 1988. The Texas Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers named him its Transportation Engineer of the Year in 1989. He received in 2003 the S.S. Steinberg Award, awarded by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, for outstanding contributions to education. In 2004, he was designated as a Regent's Fellow by The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.

He has served as chairman of a variety of technical committees and is frequently an invited speaker at professional organization meetings. Dr. Christiansen is a registered professional engineer in Texas.

Professional Interests

Transportation

Education

Ph.D., Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, 1977.

M.Eng., Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, 1972.

B.S., Civil Engineering, Northwestern University, 1970.

Experience

Director, TTI Administration, Texas Transportation Institute, November 2006 - Present.

Agency Deputy Director, TTI Administration, Texas Transportation Institute, January 1994 - October 2006.

Associate Agency Director, Texas Transportation Institute, September 1991 - December 1994.

Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, 1990 - January 1992.

Research Engineer, Texas Transportation Institute, September 1984 - August 1991.

Professional Registration

Registered Professional Engineer in Texas, Registration No. 37961.

Affiliations

President, Council of University Transportation Centers, 2002 - 2003.

Vice President, Council of University Transportation Centers, 2001 - 2002.

Secretary, Council of University Transportation Centers, 2000 - 2001.

Treasurer, Council of University Transportation Centers, 1999 - 2000.

Board of Directors, American Road and Transportation Builders Association, 1999 - Present.

Executive Committee, American Road and Transportation Builders Association, 1999 - 2001.

President, American Road and Transportation Builders Association, Research and Education Division, 2000 - 2001.

International President, International Institute of Transportation Engineers, 1996.

International Vice President, International Institute of Transportation Engineers, 1995.

Chair, International Institute of Transportation Engineers, Annual Meeting Technical Program Committee, 1994.

Chair, International Institute of Transportation Engineers, Planning Applications Division of Technical Council, 1987 - 1990.

Chair, Institute of Transportation Engineers, Texas Section (TexITE), District 9, 1988.

Section Representative, Institute of Transportation Engineers, Texas Section (TexITE), 1985 - 1987.

Member, Transportation Research Board (TRB), Research and Technology Coordinating Committee, 2001 - Present.

Secretary, Transportation Research Board (TRB), HOV Systems Committee, 1992 - 1996.

Member Emeritus, Transportation Research Board (TRB), HOV Systems Committee, 2002 - Present.

Co-Chairman, Transportation Research Board (TRB), National Research and Technology Partnership Forum, Traffic Operations Working Group, 1999 - Present.

Member, Transportation Research Board (TRB), Urban Goods Movement Committee, 1980 - 1998.

Member, National Steering Committee for Transportation Operations, 1999 - Present.

Member, Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), Research and Academia Steering Committee, 2002 - Present.

Board Chair, Texas Transportation Hall of Honor, 1998 - Present.

Member, Texas Good Roads/Transportation Association.

Honors/Awards

Regents Fellow, Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, 2004.

S. S. Steinberg Award, American Road and Transportation Builders Association, 2003.

"Member Emeritus", HOV Systems Committee, TRB, 2002.

Fred Burgraff Award, International Institute of Transportation Engineers, 1979.

Technical Council Award, International Institute of Transportation Engineers, 1993.

Technical Council Award, International Institute of Transportation Engineers, 1988.

Technical Council Award, International Institute of Transportation Engineers, 1988.

Transportation Engineer of the Year, Institute of Transportation Engineers, Texas Section (TexITE), 1989.

Academic Courses Taught

Public Transportation Planning, Operation and Management. Texas A&M University.

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