The Texas Transportation Institute is proud to announce the 2008 inductees into the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor. They will be formally inducted in a ceremony in the fall of 2008.
The Hall of Honor is located in the main conference room in the Texas Transportation Institute’s Gibb Gilchrist Building in the Texas A&M Research Park in College Station. The hall is overseen by a five-member board comprised of senior transportation professionals with knowledge of the historical development of the transportation system in the state. Each individual inducted into the Hall of Honor is recognized by a plaque on permanent display.
Marquis G. Goode, Jr.
During his 40 years with the Texas Highway Department, Mark Goode’s career paralleled the building of the interstate highway system. He joined the Department in 1947 and served as engineer-director from 1980 until his retirement in 1986.
Mr. Goode managed the fastest period of growth in road construction in the Department’s history. He initiated a recruiting and training program that opened doors for women and minorities and led the Department into the age of automation. The highly successful “Don’t Mess With Texas” antilitter campaign and the “Adopt a Highway” program were initiated under his leadership.
Mark Goode served on the executive and policy committees of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and received the organization’s highest award in 1984, the MacDonald Award. He served as president of the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and on the executive committee of the Transportation Research Board. During his college career at Texas A&M University, Goode was commissioned and called into active duty in the U.S. Army and served as an officer in the European theatre before returning to Texas A&M to finish his civil engineering degree in 1947.
Louis L. Heil
Under Larry Heil’s leadership, McDonald Transit’s clients grew from five public transit management contracts to more than 20 from coast to coast. He was instrumental in bringing public transportation to Fort Worth and supervised the initiation of new public transit systems throughout the United States.
Recognized as a mentor for many of the nation’s leading transportation professionals, Heil served as founding director and president of the Southwest Transit Association and vice president of the American Public Transportation Association. He was chair of the Texas Transportation Institute Council from 1994 to 2002. He received the Friend of Texas Transit Award in 1981 and was named to the American Public Transportation Association Hall of Fame in 2006. A graduate of the University of Kansas, Heil taught on the visiting faculty at both Texas A&M University and Northwestern University and served in the U.S. Navy, retiring as captain.
Charles J. “Jack” Keese
Under Keese, TTI became a recognized center of excellence. When he retired as director, TTI employed 200 staff, 120 students and had an annual budget of $3.9 million. The basic organizational structure and culture established by Keese continues at TTI to this day. Jack Keese is generally credited with starting Texas A&M’s graduate program in traffic engineering.
Keese was a founding member of the Texas Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and served as its president. He received numerous awards, including the Luther DeBerry Award, and was named as the 61st Honorary Member of ITE. Keese received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in civil engineering from Texas A&M. He was a captain in the U.S. Army during World War II and received a Purple Heart.
