Dr. Jon A. Epps, P.E., a Senior Research Fellow at the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), has been appointed Executive Associate Director for the Institute effective February 1. The leadership appointment was approved by The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents on Thursday, Jan. 21.
Epps, with more than 40 years of professional experience — including 32 years in academic leadership roles — will be a member of the Institute’s management team and responsible for managing the Materials and Pavement Division at TTI.
“Dr. Epps is a proven and respected leader,” says TTI Agency Director Dennis L. Christiansen. “It is rare to find a person who has such noteworthy research and leadership accomplishments in both the public and private sectors. We are fortunate to have him on board.”
Epps’ academic research has led to significant advancements involving transportation pavements and materials. As a result of his work, new and updated standards have been enacted in the fields of pavement maintenance management systems, pavement recycling and pavement economics.
A Merced, California native, Epps received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of California at Berkeley. He worked at TTI and Texas A&M from 1968 until 1982, serving as Head of the Materials and Pavements Division at TTI and a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering.
Epps spent 10 years in the private sector as Engineering Services Manager for Granite Construction, one of the largest transportation construction companies in the U.S. He also served at the University of Nevada, Reno for 18 years, including Dean of the College of Engineering from 1986 to 1993 and Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering for two years.
Epps has held various leadership roles with the American Society of Testing and Materials, Transportation Research Board, Association of Asphalt Paving Technologies, Texas Society of Professional Engineers, International Society for Asphalt Pavements and the National Asphalt Pavement Association.