Kay Fitzpatrick and Jean-Louis Briaud were each named recipients of The Texas A&M University System’s Regents Fellow Service Award during a ceremony Feb. 11.
The Regents Fellow Service Award is reserved for those A&M System employees “who have provided exemplary professional service to society that has created large and lasting benefits to Texas and beyond.”
Fitzpatrick, a senior research engineer and manager for the Roadway Design Program at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), is internationally recognized for her research involving transportation safety.
During her 26-year career with TTI, Fitzpatrick has concentrated her expertise in the areas of roadway geometric design, roadway safety, traffic control devices and the design and operation of pedestrian facilities. She has led 40 different research projects and authored 260 publications, receiving accolades from colleagues and professional organizations alike. She is a sought-after media expert on stories related to pedestrian safety issues.
“Dr. Fitzpatrick brings national and international recognition to TTI and Texas A&M, while creating innovative and practical solutions to enhance the safety of travelers throughout the world,” TTI Agency Director Dennis Christiansen said, endorsing her selection for the Regents Fellow Service Award. “Many of her innovations have resulted in operational and safety improvements that have decreased travel time and saved countless lives.”
In addition to being named a Regents Fellow, Fitzpatrick has received awards from the Transportation Research Board, the Institute of Transportation Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Texas Department of Transportation. She has also been honored with numerous awards by her colleagues within TTI.
“Working with other researchers at TTI, I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to pursue my passion for reducing crashes and to improve traffic operations, especially for pedestrians,” Fitzpatrick said after receiving the prestigious award. “Being recognized as a Regents Fellow is a huge honor and is indeed a highpoint of my career.”
Briaud is the Buchanan Chair professor in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering and a Research Engineer with TTI. He is also a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and president of the Federation of International Geoengineering Societies.
Briaud came to Texas A&M in 1978 and has served the Civil Engineering Department, Texas Engineering Experiment Station and TTI with distinction for 36 years.
Throughout his career, he has explored and solved engineering problems that have had a significant economic impact and filled voids in past research. Among his valuable contributions, Briaud’s work on foundation engineering, on bridge scour and soil erosion, and more recently on vehicle crash protection truly stands out. It has led to the publication of two books on “the pressuremeter” in 1992 and on “geotechnical engineering: unsaturated and saturated soils” in 2013.
He received tenure and promotion to Halliburton Associate Professor in 1983 and in 1986 became one of the youngest faculty members to be promoted to the rank of full professor. In 2002 he was awarded the Buchanan Chair.