Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Executive Associate Director Katie Turnbull has been appointed chair of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Executive Committee. Turnbull was introduced as chair at a luncheon during the TRB 97th Annual Meeting on Jan. 10, 2018. Victoria (Vicki) A. Arroyo, executive director of the Georgetown Climate Center, was appointed the Executive Committee’s vice chair. Turnbull and Arroyo will serve one-year terms in these offices beginning Jan. 11, 2018.
Turnbull is also an executive professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University. She maintains a diverse research portfolio, leads TTI initiatives, and manages TTI’s Environment and Planning Research Group. She received the Regents Fellow Award from The Texas A&M University System in 2015.
In 2014, Turnbull was given TRB’s prestigious W.N. Carey Jr. Distinguished Service Award, recognizing her longtime outstanding service to TRB and transportation research. She has more than 30 years of uninterrupted experience at TRB and she has served on more than 20 TRB committees and other TRB groups.
The mission of TRB is to provide leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisciplinary and multimodal. Its annual meeting provides an opportunity for transportation professionals from all over the world to exchange information of common interest. More than 14,000 policymakers, administrators, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of government, industry, and academic institutions are attending the TRB 97th Annual Meeting taking place Jan. 7–11, 2018.
“It is a great honor and privilege to work with all of you and the TRB Executive Committee and staff and I am looking forward to a great year,” said Turnbull at the luncheon. “It’s an exciting time to be involved in transportation and TRB.”