Dr. Robert Bertini
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Robert Bertini was recently named head of the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering in The University of Alabama College of Engineering.
Bertini joins the College following his tenure at Oregon State University, where he was a professor and head of the School of Civil and Construction Engineering.
“We are excited to have Dr. Bertini join us here at UA to lead our Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering. He brings extensive experience both as a scholar and leader in his research field and as an academic leader with significant experience in both departmental and major research center leadership roles,” said College of Engineering Dean Clifford Henderson. “He is the perfect person to help our CCEE Department, our College, and our related research institutes continue to build on their strong momentum and to help us achieve our vision of becoming one of the most impactful engineering programs in the country.”
Consistent with the College of Engineering and UA’s strategic plans, Bertini said he plans to work on growing the CCEE Department’s impact by increasing the number of undergraduate and graduate degrees, student and faculty scholarly productivity, and research awards and expenditures. He also plans to find opportunities to move research results into practice.
“The CCEE Department is already doing magnificent work in research, teaching, and service, and I envision that we will reach greater heights and achieve greater impact through increased collaboration at departmental, college, university, state, national, and international levels and by finding ways to tell our story through creative communications,” Bertini said.
Bertini credits the welcoming nature of the College and the University for solidifying his decision to come to UA, and he hopes to provide the same experience for current and future students and faculty.
“I’m most excited about getting to know everyone and working collaboratively to support professional development and recognize the achievements of our amazing faculty, staff, and students,” Bertini said. “Looking through a student-centered lens, my focus will be on making sure that students feel welcome and ‘at home’ in the department and that we provide excellence in experiential learning.”
In addition to being appointed department head, he will also serve as the Chief Transportation Science Research and Development Officer for the Alabama Transportation Institute.
“I am highly appreciative of the opportunity to work with colleagues at the Alabama Transportation Institute, with its multi-disciplinary approaches advancing transportation research and education, toward improving safety, efficiency, sustainability, and economic impacts of transportation on society,” Bertini said.
A proven leader, Bertini was the founding director of the Portland State University Intelligent Transportation Systems Laboratory and the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium. He has served as director or associate director for five national and tier one university transportation research centers. He was also appointed by President Obama to serve as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Deputy Administrator for Research and Innovative Technology, where he also led the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office, supported heightened collaboration with the European Commission and Japan, and chaired the U.S. DOT Innovation Council. His U.S. DOT position included special responsibility for civil rights within the agency, and he helped strengthen the diversity, collaborative spirit, trust, and employee satisfaction of the organization.
Bertini received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for his development of an online multimodal transportation data repository that is a platform for performance measurement, modeling, and prediction. He has also delivered the Ogden Lecture (Monash University), the Melvin Webber Memorial Lecture (UC Irvine), and the Warren Lecture (University of Minnesota). Bertini has been recognized as a fellow by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Institute of Transportation Engineers and as a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
He earned a bachelor’s in civil engineering from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, a master’s in civil engineering from San José State University, and a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.