Dr. C. Michael Walton

Dr. C. Michael Walton is Professor of Civil Engineering and holds the Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin (UT). In addition, he holds a joint academic appointment in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. For more than 35 years he has pursued a career in transport policy and engineering analysis.

Dr. Walton is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is a past chair and member of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Executive Committee. Currently he serves as chair of the TRB Subcommittee for the National Research Council (NRC) Oversight and ex-officio member of the Governing Board of the NRC. Recently he was elected chairman of the Texas Department of Transportation’s “2030 Committee.” The committee, comprised of experts in business and transportation, is coordinating a comprehensive update of Texas transportation needs through the year 2030. In other professional society affairs he is a past chairman of the board of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) and a past member of the Board of Governors of the Transportation and Development Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). In addition, he is a founding member of the Intelligent Transportation Society (ITS) of America and a past chair of the Board of Directors. He has served on or chaired a number of national study panels including those mandated by Congress and others of the NRC. Other professional or technical society memberships include American Society for Engineering Education, Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, Institute of Transportation Engineers, International Road Federation, National Society of Professional Engineers, Society of American Military Engineers, and the Urban Land Institute.

Dr. Walton has received numerous honors and awards for his scholarly pursuits. Recently he was elected as a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. In 2006 he received an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the Nagoya Institute of Technology. Dr. Walton received the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) award for distinguished contribution to university transportation education and research. He received an Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) award from the American Society of Civil Engineers to recognize and honor lifetime excellence in furthering civil engineering education. In addition, Dr. Walton was named to America’s Top 100 Private Sector Transportation Design and Construction Professionals of the 20th Century by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. This honor recognizes “outstanding individual achievement, innovation and leadership in transportation design and construction.” He received the 2000 George S. Bartlett Award in recognition for outstanding contributions to highway progress. He was selected by a Board of Award comprised of the President and Executive Director of each of the three sponsoring organizations—American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), TRB and ARTBA. The Bartlett Award is unusual in that it is the only award jointly sponsored by the three organizations and is considered to be among the highest honors in the highway transportation profession. The American Society of Civil Engineers noted the technical contributions of Dr. Walton by honoring him with several awards including the 1999 Francis C. Turner Lecture for contributions to transportation research, education and practice, the 1992 James Laurie Prize for contributions to the advancement of transportation engineering; the 1987 Harland Bartholomew Award for contributions to the enhancement of the civil engineer’s role in urban planning and development; and the 1987 Frank M. Masters Transportation Engineering Award, for innovations in transport facility planning. The Transportation Research Board presented Dr. Walton with the 1998 W.N. Carey, Jr. Distinguished Service Award which is among its highest honors in recognition of outstanding leadership in support of transportation research. In 1995, he was named TRB’s Distinguished Lecturer in recognition of the research contributions over his entire career. The American Road and Transportation Builders Association presented Dr. Walton with the 1994 S.S. Steinberg Award recognizing his outstanding contributions to transportation education. The Institute of Transportation Engineers has awarded him the 1996 Wilbur S. Smith Distinguished Transportation Educator Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to the transportation profession by relating academic studies to the actual practice of transportation. He received the 1995 Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award from the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University. The College of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin awarded Dr. Walton the 1996 Joe J. King Award, their highest professional award, in recognition of his outstanding leadership to the engineering profession.

Dr. Walton has contributed to more than 250 publications in the areas of ITS, freight transport, and transportation engineering, planning, policy and economics, and he has delivered several hundred technical presentations. He has served as senior editor or contributing author for a variety of technical reference books and manuals and as a member of the editorial board for several international journals. Currently Dr. Walton has a research or consulting relationship with approximately 30 states.