Speaker/Panelist Bios for Anticipating 2025 in Northeast Corridor Transportation: Aerial, Highway, Marine, and Rail Technologies & Linkages
Anderson | de Cerreño | Lettiere | Ozbay | RePass | Rodrigue | Schoener | Wakeman | Walker | Wicks
Friday, October 19, 2007
John M. Clayton Hall Conference Center | University of Delaware | Newark, Delaware
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
 Forum Main Page | Enhanced Podcast | Papers
 William P. Anderson is professor of geography at Boston University and a member of the Boston University Center for Transportation Studies. He received his doctorate in geography from Boston University in 1984. From 1983 to 1998, he was a member of the geography faculty at McMaster University, achieving the rank of professor in 1996. He was also Director of the McMaster Institute for Energy Studies and an associate member of the McMaster Department of Civil Engineering.
Anderson’s main research interest areas are in transportation studies, economic geography, urban geography, energy and environmental studies, urban and regional economic modelling, interregional and international migration, international trade, and quantitative methods. He has conducted research funded by research councils and government agencies in both the United States and Canada as well as by the World Bank. Recent and ongoing studies include: analyses of economic impacts of road construction for the Federal Highway Administration and the California Department of Transportation, studies of the economic impacts of the Tren Urban transit project in San Juan, a model for estimating the contribution of transportation to air quality problems in Mexico City, an econometric analysis of spatial variations in domestic airfares in the United States, and a study of the impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure in Boston. He has served as editor of Energy Studies Review and interim editor of Canadian Journal of Regional Science and was president of the Canadian Regional Science Association. He currently serves on the editorial board of Growth and Change.
 Allison L.C. de Cerreño is Director of the NYU–Wagner Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, and research scientist and assistant research professor at New York University. She is also the executive director of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) and is a research associate at the Mineta Transportation Institute in San Jose, Calif. She holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York.
Prior to joining the Rudin Center, de Cerreño was director of Science & Technology Policy at the New York Academy of Sciences (1998-2002) where, among other responsibilities, she led two major efforts: one to develop pollution prevention plans for the New York/New Jersey Harbor, and one to boost technology-led economic development in the Tri-State Region.
Among her recent publications are High Speed Rail Projects in the United States: Identifying the Elements for Success - Parts 1 and 2 (San Jose, CA: Mineta Transportation Institute, 2005/2006); “The Dynamics of On-Street Parking in Large Central Cities,” Transportation Research Record 1898 (January 2005): 130-137, Dividing The Pie: Placing the Transportation Donor-Donee Debate in Perspective (May 2003); and Pollution Prevention and Management Strategies for Mercury in the NY/NJ Harbor (July 2002). She is editor of Maintaining Solid Foundations for Hi-Tech Growth: Transportation & Communications Infrastructure in the Tri-State Region (2001).
 Jack Lettiere is currently chairman of the board of Nation’s Port and served as senior vice president of the Highway Business Group for the firm of Edwards and Kelcey, a nationally recognized engineering, planning, architectural, and construction firm. Jack joined the firm in September 2006. He is the former commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT). He served in that capacity from December 2002 through January 2006.
Lettiere’s duties included Chairman of the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Transit Corporation and the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority. He also served on boards of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, the South Jersey Transportation Authority, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority, and the New Jersey Ethics Commission.
Lettiere, who was at the Department for more than 31 years, served as deputy commissioner (chief operating officer) and the assistant commissioner for Capital Investment. He managed the Department's $2.6 billion Capital Program from 1993 to 2001. Additionally, Lettiere was the 2005 president of the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the nation’s premier organization for setting transportation policy direction and transportation standards. During his tenure, Lettiere placed major emphasis on making transportation a national priority, highway safety, accelerated project delivery, and linking transportation to land use.
 Kaan M. A. Ozbay, received his B.S. in civil engineering in 1988 from Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey, his M.S. in 1991 in civil engineering (transportation) from Virginia Tech, and his Ph.D. in civil engineering (transportation) in 1996. Ozbay’s research interest in transportation covers advanced technology applications in ITS, incident management, development of real-time control techniques for traffic, application of artificial intelligence and operations research techniques in network optimization, and development of simulation models for automated highway systems. Ozbay joined Rutgers University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as an assistant professor in July 1996.
Ozbay is the recipient of the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award. Ozbay has recently co-authored a book titled “Feedback Based Ramp Metering for Intelligent Transportation Systems.” In addition to this book, he co-authored two books—Feedback Control Theory for Dynamic Traffic Assignment and Incident Management for Intelligent Transportation Systems—both of which were written with Dr. Pushkin Kachroo of Virginia Tech. Ozbay has published more than 150 refereed papers in scholarly journals and conference proceedings. Ozbay serves as the associate editor of Networks and Spatial Economics Journal and is a member of the editorial board of the ITS journal.
Since 1994, Ozbay, has been the principal investigator or co-principal investigator of 47 projects funded collectively in excess of $7 million by the National Science Foundation, NJDOT, NYMTC, NY State DOT, New Jersey Highway Authority, USDOT, FHWA, VDOT, CUNY University Transportation Research Center, Rutgers Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT), and USDOT ITS Research Center of Excellence. He is currently the director of the Rutgers Intelligent Transportation Systems laboratory that leads the ITS research and education activities of CAIT.
 James P. RePass is founder and principal executive of the nonprofit National Corridors Initiative (NCI), of Providence, R.I., which began as a bi-partisan business and environmental transportation advocacy group. He has been engaged primarily in NCI since its founding in 1989. In the private sector, the firm RePass & Lyons specialized in the design and execution of business development programs, marketing plans, and sales plans and strategies, particularly with technology-based, energy and transportation companies. These activities have included management-buyout, licensing, and fundraising work.
In both the public and private sector, RePass works directly with senior elected and appointed officials, top management, and senior staff, assisting in creating new business and/or policy strategies.
NCI has become RePass’s principal activity. Initial work involved the Boston–New York High Speed Rail project, including direct negotiation with the White House Office of Management and Budget regarding funding for the program, which has been successfully completed. NCI’s efforts now involve assisting and advising Corridor-paradigm development projects nationwide.
A frequent speaker at national transportation conferences, RePass has met with and addressed business, environmental, academic, and political leaders throughout the United States.
RePass has organized many high-level national conferences on the subject of transportation and rail, and he is frequently interviewed by the national news media regarding transportation issues. He is also a frequently published author and journalist, publisher of online e-zine and newsletter Destination: Freedom, and a contributing editor at Railway Age magazine.
RePass has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the Boston Rental Housing Association.
 Jean-Paul Rodrigue received a Ph.D. in transport geography from the Université de Montréal in 1994. Rodrigue’s research activities cover the fields of transport and economic geography, geographic information systems (GIS) and multimedia tools for education. His regional interests involve East and Southeast Asia (Pacific Asia), notably newly industrialized countries and China, as well as North America. Specific topics investigated by Rodrigue concern transport systems and logistics, global production networks, transport corridors, urban regions, economic integration, international trade, and regional development. He currently sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Transport Geography and was chair of the Transport Geography Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers (2004-2006).
 George E. Schoener, executive director of the I-95 Corridor Coalition, is responsible for managing the day-to-day implementation of the Coalition program, projects, and activities. The I-95 Corridor Coalition is a partnership of state departments of transportation, regional and local transportation agencies, toll authorities, and related organizations, including law enforcement, port, transit, and rail organizations from Maine to Florida, with affiliate members in Canada.
Prior to his position with the I-95 Corridor Coalition, Schoener retired from the U.S. DOT and FHWA. Most recently he served as deputy assistant secretary of USDOT with primary responsibility for developing national transportation policy, including the Administration’s reauthorization legislation for surface transportation. In that position, he also worked with public and private-sector representatives to develop a national freight policy framework and established intermodal teams to facilitate implementation of projects of national and regional significance.
While at FHWA, Schoener’s positions included those of director of planning, chief of the Intermodal Division, and chief of Transportation System Management. Additionally, he was a professional staff member of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Schoener holds a master’s degree in engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota.
 Professor Wakeman is the deputy director of the Center for Maritime Systems and research professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Ocean Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N.J. Previously, he worked with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Port Commerce Department for nearly 13 years as general manager of Waterways Development and with the Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco and Sacramento Districts, for more than 22 years as a program and project manager as well as the director of the Bay-Delta Hydraulics Model in Sausalito, Calif. Wakeman has extensive experience in transportation, navigation, port development, and marine environmental issues. His professional affiliations include the American Society of Civil Engineers, PIANC, New York Academy of Sciences, and the National Academies Transportation Research Board. Wakeman has a M.A. in marine biology from San Francisco State University, M.S. in civil engineering from University of California, Davis, and an Eng.Sc.D. in civil and environmental engineering from Columbia University in New York. His numerous publications include two books, which he co-edited, and more than 90 technical papers.
 Richard Walker has more than 30 years of experience in the port and intermodal industries, including the federal government, the private sector, and military service. He joined the Maritime Administration (MARAD) in 1979 and has held various positions ranging from transportation specialist to program manager in the port and intermodal area. From 1995 to April 2007, he was the director of the Office of Intermodal Development within the agency. His office was primarily charged with the promotion of improved development and utilization of marine-related intermodal transportation systems and technology. After MARAD’s reorganization in April 2007, Walker became the director of the Office of Infrastructure Development and Congestion Mitigation, which expanded his responsibilities to include port and terminal activities and operations.
Prior to joining MARAD, Walker served as a port and maritime transportation analyst with Frederic R. Harris, Inc., Consulting Engineers in Lake Success, N.Y. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Earlham College in Richmond, Ind., and a Master of Business Administration degree in international marketing from Bernard M. Baruch College of City University in New York City.
 Carolann D. Wicks, P.E., is the Secretary of the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT). Born in Haddonfield, N.J., she has been employed with DelDOT for 24 years. Wicks is a 1982 graduate of the University of Delaware with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Wicks also earned a Master of Public Administration degree in 1990. She became a licensed engineer in the state of Delaware in 1987.
Wicks has recently worked as director of transportation solutions/chief engineer at DelDOT, where she was responsible for the timely delivery of the Capitol Transportation Program from project development and design through construction.
She is a member of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the American Association of State Highway Engineers, and the Transportation and Education Management Institute Steering Committee.
Wicks earned the Eugene E. Abbott Award for Excellence in Transportation Planning, DelDOT’s highest honor, in 2000. She also earned the Alfred E. Johnson Award for excellence in engineering and management, presented by AASHTO in 2001. Wicks has been recognized by the Dover Chapter of Business and Professional Women with the Woman in History Award in 2004. She received the Outstanding Alumna Award and the Presidential Citation for Outstanding Achievement in 2004, both presented by the University of Delaware.
She serves as chairperson for Subcommittee on Geometric Design for AASHTO.
all photos by Duane Perry, courtesy of UD PR
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