Marquis “Mark” G. Goode, Jr., a Texas Transportation Hall of Honor 2008 inductee, will be 100 years old on Aug. 12, 2021. Goode worked for the Texas State Department of Highways and Public Transportation (now the Texas Department of Transportation [TxDOT]) for four decades, where he helped build the Interstate Highway System we rely on today. He joined the Texas State Department of Highways and Public Transportation in 1947 and worked as TxDOT engineer-director from 1980 until his retirement in 1986.
“I would like to offer many happy returns to Mr. Goode on his 100th birthday,” says Mike Behrens, National Transportation Programs director of the Michael Baker Corporation, and retired TxDOT executive director. “He led the then-Texas State Department of Highways and Public Transportation during one of the fastest growing eras in the department’s history, and his legacy lives on today.”
Goode oversaw a major growth period in road construction in the department’s history and ushered TxDOT into the automation age. His leadership left its mark on TxDOT, with initiatives that included:
- a recruiting and training program creating new opportunities for women and minorities;
- the Don’t Mess with Texas® anti-litter campaign encouraging Texans to take care of the Lone Star State; and
- the Adopt a Highway program getting Texans involved in community-inspired litter pickups across the state.
In 1984, Goode received the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ (AASHTO’s) highest award, the MacDonald Memorial Award. Established in 1957, the award is named after the late Thomas H. MacDonald, chief of the Bureau of Public Roads, and recognizes top leaders in highway administration, engineering and research. Goode served on AASHTO’s executive and policy committees, as president of the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and on the Transportation Research Board’s executive committee.
“As TxDOT engineer-director, Mr. Goode did a great deal to strengthen the relationship between TxDOT and universities,” says Dennis Christiansen, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) agency director emeritus. “He would often invite several university researchers to meet with him to discuss both how TxDOT should respond to an issue as well as how the university research program might be altered to better address the issue. He is a true Texas gentleman. Having an opportunity to work with him on many occasions was a highlight of my career.”
Goode is a member of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of 1942 at Texas A&M University. He was part of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, was commissioned and called into active duty in the U.S. Army and served in World War II. In 1947, he returned to then-Texas A&M College and finished his civil engineering degree. The same year he was inducted into the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor, Goode received the 2008 Distinguished Graduate Award from Texas A&M’s Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The award recognizes former students who excel in the civil engineering profession, and strengthens the bond between current students and outstanding professionals.
Settled now in Dallas, Texas, Goode and his wife Lucille celebrated their 79th wedding anniversary in June 2021. The Aggie Spirit lives on in the family in grandsons Mark G. Goode IV and Scott M. Goode, Jr. TTI would like to wish Mark Goode, Jr., a happy 100th birthday!
“My dad worked for Mr. Goode in the early 1960s, and I got to know the Goodes as part of the TxDOT Lufkin District (District 11 back then),” reflects Bill Stockton, TTI deputy agency director. “The Goodes are always gracious and caring toward me, and Mrs. Goode calls me ‘Billy’ (my boyhood moniker). What a wonderful couple and a blessing to celebrate Mr. Goode’s 100th birthday!”
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