Former transportation institute chief now heading URI Center KINGSTON, R.I. — December 14, 2000 — Richard J. Horn has been appointed executive director of the University of Rhode Island Transportation Center. He will direct the center’s extensive interdisciplinary research and education efforts, presently funded by a six-year, $12 million matching grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Horn began work in November. Horn was formerly the executive director of the NAFTA Intermodal Transportation Institute at the National Aviation and Transportation Center in New York, where he helped the transportation and trade communities take advantage of the opportunities created by the North American Free Trade Agreement. Prior to that he was chief of the Motor Vehicle Projects Office of the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, a think tank that provides research and analysis for decision-makers in the U.S. Department of Transportation and other government agencies. “The URI Transportation Center creates an extraordinary opportunity for the University to bring its resources to bear on the complex issues of transportation, particularly in a fragile coastal environment,” said URI President Robert L. Carothers. “Dick Horn has the intellectual range and the practical experience to lead a process of creative response to the challenges the future presents.” Legislation approved in 1998 established 33 transportation centers nationwide. The URI center is one of six receiving the maximum funding of $2 million per year and is the result of 10 years of cooperative ventures between URI and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. The center’s aim is to advance transportation technology and expertise through education, research and technology transfer. “Our objective is to create a multi-disciplinary center of excellence in transportation that reflects a solid understanding of global transportation processes and trends,” said Horn. “Transportation and mobility are increasingly critical factors to our economy and quality of life. The URI Transportation Center will provide a way for students, transportation and logistics practitioners, industry and community groups, and researchers and faculty to collaborate on important transportation issues facing the state and region.” The center’s current research program includes projects dealing with environmental monitoring and forecasting, transportation systems operations and management, infrastructure materials and maintenance, and human factors. For Information: Todd McLeish 874-7892