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K-State Today

April 9, 2012

Professor emeritus of civil engineering selected for national award, to chair national committee

Submitted by Communications and Marketing

Eugene Russell, professor emeritus of civil engineering, was recently selected to receive the 2012 Wilbur S. Smith Award from the American Society of Civil Engineering for his contributions to enhance the role of civil engineers in highway engineering. He was also recently appointed chair of the Roundabout Committee of the Transportation Research Board, a division of the National Research Council.

"Forming and chairing the Transportation Research Board's Roundabout Committee has been the achievement of a longtime goal," Russell said.

Russell has more than 53 years of experience in all phases of highway and traffic engineering, including 48 in academia where he has been a teacher and researcher. As a professor emeritus at K-State, Russell primarily conducts research. He is currently involved in three research projects dealing with highway safety issues.

Russell has been at K-State since 1974. While at the university he has served as director of the Center for Transportation Research and Training, director of the Traffic Assistance Services for Kansas program, associate director of the Region VII, Mid-America Transportation Center, and ascended from associate professor to professor emeritus and held the Mark and Margaret Hulings chair in civil engineering. During his tenure at K-State, Russell has been principal or co-principal investigator on more than 100 funded research projects, has been author or co-author on more than 170 published technical papers and reports, handbooks, manuals and training videos and has made around 150 presentations at conferences throughout the U.S. and worldwide. Many of these projects dealt with rail-highway grade crossing safety and recently, roundabout safety and operation.

Russell has been honored many times for his teaching and research activities. The Council of University Transportation Centers honored him with their award for Distinguished Contribution to University Transportation Education and Research -- given annually since 1998 to identify individuals with a long history of significant and outstanding contribution to university transportation, education and research. Missouri University of Science and Technology honored him as an outstanding graduate by naming him to the Academy of Civil Engineers. He is a fellow and life member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Institute of Transportation Engineers. He is a life member of the American Railroad Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association and the National Association of County Engineers. He is a committee member emeritus of the Transportation Research Board's Grade Crossing Committee on which he has served continuously since 1974. He is also a member of other professional organizations and national committees dealing with highway safety.  

Russell is grateful for the recognition from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

"I am very proud to be a fellow and life member of this great organization and the civil engineering profession," he said. "And I feel greatly honored by the Wilbur Smith award."