David Ripplinger, NDSU Extension bioenergy and bioproducts specialist and assistant professor of agribusiness and applied economics, completed his term as Transportation Research Forum president during its annual forum May 1-4 in Toronto, Canada.

During Ripplinger’s time as president, the Transportation Research Forum developed a strategic plan that was adopted in full by the group’s council, began transitioning the Journal of the Transportation Research Forum to a major publishing house and started moving the organization’s central administrative services to a new vendor.

Patrick McCarthy, professor of economics at Georgia Tech University, was elected the new Transportation Research Forum president.

Ripplinger will spend the next year serving as past president. He also was elected vice president of the Transportation Research Foundation by the membership in Toronto. The foundation is a charitable, nonprofit organization that supports scholarship in transportation.

The next Transportation Research Forum is scheduled for Chicago in spring 2018. It will be jointly hosted by Northwestern University, Depaul University and the University of Illinois-Chicago.

The Transportation Research Forum is an independent organization of transportation professionals. It provides an impartial meeting ground for carriers, shippers, government officials, consultants, university researchers, suppliers and others seeking an exchange of information and ideas related to passenger and freight transportation.

As a student-focused, land-grant, research university, we serve our citizens.