National Academies Members

Alumni Among National Academies Member

Kumares C. Sinha, Ph.D. (M.S. Municipal Engineering '66, Ph.D. Civil Engineering '68)

NAE Induction: 2008
Citation: For contributions to the advancement of highway infrastructure engineering and management and to the education of transportation professionals worldwide.

Dr. Kumares C. Sinha is the Edgar B. & Hedwig M. Olson Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the Joint Transportation Research Program of Purdue University and the Indiana Department of Transportation. He joined Purdue in 1974 following six years at Marquette University. He was a Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Roorkee University, India (now IIT-Roorkee) during 1980-81. He is an internationally recognized leader in research, education and practice of transportation engineering. His research on pavement and bridge performance, life cycle costing, optimal timing of repair and renewal, and road safety has contributed to the establishment of the field of highway infrastructure management. He has published extensively, including a book on transportation decision making, has mentored a generation of students, advised governments at all levels, and consulted for the World Bank on transportation and infrastructure issues. He served as the President of the Transportation & Development Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), President of the Research and Education Division of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), President of the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC), and as a member of the Federal Advisory Council on Transportation Statistics. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of the Journal of Transportation Engineering. He received many honors, including the Honorary Membership of ASCE (2005), CUTC Distinguished Contribution Award (2005), ITE Wilbur S. Smith Distinguished Educator Award (2002), ASCE Francis C. Turner Lecture Award (2001), ARTBA Steinberg Award (2000), ASCE Harland Bartholomew Award (1996), ASCE Arthur Wellington Prize (1992), ASCE Frank M. Masters Award (1986), TRB Fred Burggraf Award (1974), and the UConn Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award (1995). He was inducted into the UConn Academy of Distinguished Engineers in 2004. He is married to Anne Elizabeth Kallina (B.A. '68).

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