What I Do Teach classes (probability/statistics, behavior modeling, questionnaire and study design) Conduct research projects (e.g. impacts of teleworking, online shopping, etc. on travel behavior; how the built environment affects travel behavior; what people do while traveling and how that may affect their travel choices; the circumstances under which people need to travel for its own sake, not just to get from A to B) Travel! I speak at conferences, give seminars at other universities, participate in doctoral dissertation examinations in other countries, enjoy vacations in interesting places, and visit family/friends all over the world. Write (mostly journal articles, with my students, on our research, but also lecture notes) Serve (running a university requires some volunteer work; so does being active in professional societies)
Why Engineering? I always loved math (read popular-audience math books for fun, growing up). When trying to decide on my college major, the best advice I received was, "From math you can go anywhere. It will be easier to learn the subject to which you're applying math, than it will be to learn the math once you've gotten into the subject." OK, others may disagree with that, but it worked for me! I feel like math is the hub with numerous spokes.
School Days Bachelor of Arts from Florida State University (math major, physics and French minors) Master's and PhD from Northwestern University (industrial engineering/management sciences -- but my career has been in civil engineering departments, since that's where transportation engineering often resides)
My Day At Work Preparing lectures, teaching, meeting with students (about classes, research, career questions), faculty committees, reading/writing/answering tons of email from all over the world (collaborators, prospective students, invitations to speak or to volunteer in various ways), editing a co-authored paper, grading assignments, reading other people's research
Best Part The joy of working with students! -- they keep me ever young, ever learning, ever mentally alert. And the joy of discovery -- new knowledge, better ways to explain things. Getting to read and write for a living! The travel!
Proud Moments When my students win prestigious awards. Induction into the National Academy of Engineering! Receiving a lifetime achievement award from my primary professional society. Being invited to give (and giving) the Deen Lecture at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board.
My Family I believe I acquired my love of travel from my father, who flew helicopters for the Army and traveled the world with my mother. I believe I acquired my interest in human behavior (and the expectation of obtaining a PhD) from my mother, who earned her PhD in marriage and family therapy at age 40, while raising three teenage daughters. (So in retrospect, my specialization in travel behavior seemed inevitable, although my two sisters became medical doctors...) Although my parents had hoped for at least one son, we all have often wondered how different our lives might have been if we'd had even one brother. As it was, my otherwise pretty traditional father could not have been prouder of his daughters, nor more encouraging of them to be whatever they wanted to be. I am very grateful and blessed for the role models both my parents were to us.
Inspiration My parents, my math teachers, and the professors who taught the transportation classes I took as a scary experiment in graduate school.
Want to be an Engineer? Follow your heart! If you can do what you love for a living, it will be such a blessing.
Hobbies I love reading -- mostly mystery novels (aside from work-related literature, of course), but occasionally some non-fiction as well. I love traveling (for work or holidays), and enjoy photography. I enjoy cooking. Getting together with family and friends. Classical music. I am a Christian, so I treasure studying the Bible to learn more about God's astounding love for us. I have taught adult Sunday School for a number of years, and enjoy writing Bible lessons from time to time.