Benjamin Sperry Selected to Receive 2012 William Harris Award
Ben Sperry
Mr. Ben Sperry is a SWUTC Graduate Researcher in the Multimodal Freight Transportation Division of the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) at Texas A&M University. He is currently a Doctoral degree candidate in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, and expects to graduate with a Ph.D. in civil engineering in May 2012. He earned his Master’s degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M in 2008. A native of Springfield, Illinois, he received his Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Evansville (Indiana) in 2006. He is active in the Texas A&M University Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Student Chapter and has received numerous awards and recognition for his academic endeavors. Mr. Sperry’s research focuses on understanding how existing passenger rail lines contribute to mobility and economic development in intercity corridors, primarily through the collection and analysis of passenger survey data. The title of his dissertation is Development of Improved Traveler Survey Methods for High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Planning.
Mr. Sperry was selected to represent the SWUTC at the annual UTC Outstanding Student of the Year awards ceremony during TRB’s Annual Meeting in January, 2011 in recognition of his all-round exemplary performance in academics, research quality and productivity, and leadership activities.
This award is presented annually by the SWUTC and comes with a $1,000 cash award.