Professor Michael D. Meyer is the recipient of the 2008 W.N. Carey Jr. Distinguished Service Award. Given by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies (TRB), the Carey Award is a prestigious honor, recognizing individuals who have provided outstanding leadership and service to TRB. The award will be presented to Dr. Meyer on January 14, 2009, during the Chairman's Luncheon at the TRB 88th Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.
Dr. Meyer has been active in TRB for more than 30 years, serving on more than 50 TRB committees, panels, and task forces. He has served as chair or co-chair on more than 15 of these groups. Currently, he serves as chair of the Subcommittee on Planning and Policy Review, a policy study committee, and the National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) panel, and is a member of the NCFRP Oversight Committee. TR News states that "Dr. Meyer brings energy and vision to every TRB assignment he undertakes, and with his diversity of interests and expertise he has contributed to the entire spectrum of TRB activities and programs".
Established in 1920, TRB is a private, non-profit institution that provides services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. Its mission is "to provide leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisciplinary, and multimodal". The organization engages more than 7,000 transportation professionals from the public and private sectors and academia.
Dr. Meyer is one of the country's foremost experts in transportation systems engineering and former chair of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech. He has written over 160 technical articles and has authored or co-authored numerous texts on transportation systems, planning and policy. Dr. Meyer is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2006 Wilbur Smith Distinguished Educator Award from the Institute of Transportation Engineers; the 2000 Theodore M. Matson Memorial Award in recognition of outstanding contributions in the field of transportation engineering; the 1995 Pyke Johnson Award of the Transportation Research Board for best paper in planning and administration delivered at the TRB Annual Meeting; and the 1988 Harland Bartholomew Award of the American Society of Civil Engineers for contributions to the enhancement of the role of the civil engineer in urban planning and development. His research interests are in transportation systems engineering, multimodal transportation planning and evaluation, transit planning, institutional analysis and project implementation, public works economics and finance, environmental impact analysis, sustainable development, and engineering design.