The 2025 Zephyr Leadership Award was presented on January 7, 2025
The Zephyr Leadership Award shall be given to an individual with demonstrated history of experience in the field who embodies the Zephyr Principles, and who embraces the Zephyr mission of advancing rigorous transportation and land use decision-making for the public good by advocating for and supporting improved travel analysis and facilitating its implementation.
Criteria used for selection:
Nominees are considered by a three-person award committee and forwarded to the Zephyr Board for approval. Awards are made at the TRB Annual Meeting.
Congratulations to the winner of the 2025 Leadership Award: Dr. Rick Donnelly
Dr. Rick Donnelly has worked at the leading edge and been an advocate for travel analysis for over 40 years. His contributions include the adoption of activity-based travel models in practice, the integration of economic, land-use and travel models, statewide models, and the application of machine learning to assist in travel model estimation. But Rick’s expertise is not limited to transportation. He also leads work in the defense industry, applying agent based simulations to defense and logistics scenarios. He has mentored countless professionals, most of whom have gone on to serve in high level academic and consulting roles, as well as provide great service to professional organizations such as TRB and Zephyr.
Rick Donnelly is the epitome of leadership in our field. As just one example among many, for 15 years Rick led an international peer review panel to provide guidance to Oregon DOT on developing a robust and relevant forecast tool, with members such as Michael Wegener, David Simmons, Rolf Moeckel, Keith Lawton, Frank Koppelman, Kim Fisher, and Julie Dunbar. The program included 5 symposiums hosted by Oregon to share our experience and knowledge, which would not have happened without Rick’s guidance and advice.
Rick consistently volunteers his time to support conferences in any role he is asked to serve under. His focus was on connecting people to knowledge, tools and methods. His grace and humility always permeated his work. If you have attended any of the Transportation Planning Applications (TRBAppCon) or Innovations in Travel Modeling (ITM) conferences over the years you have heard Rick speak. He always provides a thought-provoking presentation leaving the audience wishing they could work with him. A conversation with Rick reveals insight into organizational leadership, views on what makes something credible, trips up mountains, talk of fighter jets and submarines, growing up right smack in the middle of Oz and broad perspectives on how to make the world a better place–drawing from a strong non-conformist streak.
The 2024 Zephyr Leadership Award Committee was:
Board Facilitator: Joe Castiglione
Presenter at the 2025 TRB Annual Meeting Reception: Greg Erhardt