Dr. Dennis Christiansen

Dr. Christiansen is Director of the Texas Transportation Institute. Dr. Christiansen has been a member of the staff of the Texas Transportation Institute for over 30 years. Projects directed by Dr. Christiansen have addressed areas such as: the role of rail transit in Texas cities; roadway operations and design; transportation and energy relationships; the design and operation of bus transfer centers and park-and-ride lots; the role of intercity rail passenger service in Texas; the potential role for a system of strategic arterial streets; and urban goods movement. In addition to this research, Dr. Christiansen has become recognized as an international expert in the planning, design, operation and evaluation of preferential facilities for high-occupancy vehicles.

In 1979 he received the Transportation Research Board’s Fred Burgraff Award. The International Institute of Transportation Engineers awarded him their Technical Paper Award in 1984 and the Technical Council Award in 1988. The Texas Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers named him its Transportation Engineer of the Year in 1989. He is a past president of the International Institute of Transportation Engineers and is currently one of the 15-member Board of Direction for IITE. Dr. Christiansen is past president of the Research and Education Division of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association and currently serves on ARTBA’s Board of Directors. He also served as President of the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) in 2002. In 2003 he received the S.S. Steinburg Award presented by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. In 2003, Dr. Christiansen was awarded the Regents Fellow Service Award presented by the Board of Regents of the Texas A&M University System.