Dr. Joseph L. Schofer, associate dean and professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering, is the 2017 recipient of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) prestigious S.S. Steinberg Award. He was honored Jan. 9 during the association’s annual Research & Education Division (RED) meeting in the nation’s capital.
Named after the founding president of the RED, the award recognizes “an individual who has made remarkable contributions to transportation education.”
Schofer has taught for five decades, preparing transportation graduates at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate levels. His students have built careers in transportation planning and operations at some of the largest transit and transportation agencies in the country. Many others have entered academia to teach the next generation of transportation professionals.
Schofer’s teachings extend beyond the classroom, bringing infrastructure design, operations and policies to wide audiences through public lectures, alumni tours to locations like the Panama Canal, and a long-running podcast.
He has also been active in the Transportation Research Board (TRB) for more than 40 years, leading activities in transportation data programs, planning, policy analysis and decision making. He has chaired three major policy studies, six TRB conferences, two task forces and the data and information system section. He is a winner of several TRB awards and recipient of the Institute of Transportation Engineers’ Wilbur S. Smith “Distinguished Educator Award.”
Congrats Dr. Schofer, you are a Rock Star.