Dr. Dallas Little, the Herbert D. Kelleher Professor of Transportation, has been named the first Senior Research Fellow of the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI).
The new position was created in response to an employee Continuous Improvement Process Team recommendation to recognize the contributions and increasing levels of responsibility of TTI’s most senior research staff, as well as their overall research record. It is patterned after similar positions in industry for exceptional professionals who choose to remain in a technical area rather than move into higher management. The title is reserved for outstanding long-term performers, and will be granted on a selective basis. Criteria for selection include at least 20 years service as well as serving as a TTI program manager or division head at some point in their career.
“Dr. Little epitomizes the qualities this title was created to recognize,” said Dr. Herbert Richardson, TTI director. During his distinguished career, he has become known internationally for his work in pavements and materials, particularly in the area of construction materials characterization, chemical stabilization of soils and aggregates, and asphalt technology and pavement design.
“In addition to his many research innovations, important publications, and technical presentations, Professor Little is an outstanding teacher in Texas A&M University’s civil engineering department and also serves on several major committees of the National Research Council’s Transportation Research Board,” Richardson added.
Little has directed more than $8 million of research, sponsored by agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the Federal Highway Administration, the Texas Department of Transportation, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, as well as private companies. He has been a materials engineering and pavement design consultant on such major projects as the Denver International Airport, Hobby and Bush Intercontinental Airports in Houston, Schipol International Airport in the Netherlands, and for more than 100 companies and agencies. Little is currently associate director of the International Center for Aggregates Research, a joint effort with the University of Texas, which is funded by the aggregates industry.