On March 4, 67 wives of Texas Legislators visited the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) and the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) for Senate and Legislative Ladies Day.
In attendance were Julie Straus, wife of Speaker of the House Joe Straus; Sen. Steve Ogden’s wife, Beverly; and Michelle Dunnam, wife of Rep. Jim Dunnam of the House Transportation Committee. Chancellor Mike McKinney and his wife, Lou Ann, invited the ladies for a firsthand, inside look at The Texas A&M University System.
Following a detonation demonstration at TEEX‘s Disaster City, the group visited the Texas A&M University Riverside Campus and witnessed the crash test of a 2007 Chevrolet pickup truck into a standard steel guard rail at 62.5 mph. The test was a technological failure for the guard rail but succeeded in generating over 20 minutes of questions for Lance Bullard, head of TTI‘s Safety and Structural Systems Division.
The ladies were then treated to a luncheon at the Clayton W. Williams Jr. Alumni Center, a performance by the Texas A&M University Singing Cadets and a video presentation about The Texas A&M University System. Also participating in the lunch were the mayors of Bryan and College Station and other local and System officials.
After lunch the ladies returned to TTI‘s Gibb Gilchrist building, where they received an overview presentation about the Institute. They also heard from Assistant Agency Director Steve Roop, who talked about his newly proposed elevated design for a Texas Universal Freight Shuttle System, and Assistant Agency Director Dean Alberson.
At the close of their visit, The Honorable Ben White, mayor of College Station, briefed the ladies on the Bryan/College Station Mobility Initiative, and they took a tour of the TransLink® Laboratory Research Center, which will be the headquarters for the initiative.
“We are very pleased and honored that the chancellor provided TTI this important opportunity to tell our story to this distinguished group of ladies,” said Agency Director Dennis Christiansen. “Numerous TTI staff members helped make the event a great success.”
