Dr. C. Michael Walton is Professor of Civil Engineering and holds the Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin (UT).  In addition, he holds a joint academic appointment in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.  For more than 45 years he has pursued a career in transport systems engineering and policy analysis.

Dr. Walton was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1993.  In other professional society leadership positions, he is a past Chair of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Executive Committee, past Chair of the Board of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), past President of the Board of Governors of the Transportation and Development Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), a founding member and past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Intelligent Transportation Society (ITS) of America and a member of many other technical/professional organizations such as the Institute of Transportation Engineers.  Dr. Walton was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to serve on the National Freight Advisory Committee.  He currently chairs the Advisory Council on Transportation Statistics in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology of the U.S. Department of Transportation.  He has served on or chaired a number of national study panels including those mandated by Congress and others of the National Research Council. 

Dr. Walton has received numerous honors and awards.  He was elected as a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and was selected as a member of the inaugural class of ITS America's ITS Hall of Fame.  He received an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the Nagoya Institute of Technology and the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) award for distinguished contribution to university transportation education and research.  Other honors include the Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) award from the American Society of Civil Engineers to recognize and honor lifetime excellence in furthering civil engineering education; named to America's Top 100 Private Sector Transportation Design and Construction Professionals of the 20th Century by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association.  The George S. Bartlett Award in recognition for outstanding contributions to highway progress and is considered to be among the highest honors in the highway transportation profession.  ASCE has honored him with several awards including Presidents' Award, the Francis C. Turner Lecture, the James Laurie Prize, the Harland Bartholomew Award and the Frank M. Masters Transportation Engineering Award.  The Transportation Research Board presented him with the Frank Turner Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Transportation, W.N. Carey, Jr. Distinguished Service Award; others include the Thomas B. Deen Distinguished Lectureship.  ARTBA awarded him the S.S. Steinberg Award; ITE awarded him the Wilbur S. Smith Distinguished Transportation Educator Award and the Theodore M. Matson Memorial Award.  He was inducted into the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor and recently inducted into the Transportation Development Hall of Fame of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association Foundation.

Dr. Walton has contributed to numerous publications in the areas of ITS, freight transport, and transportation engineering, planning, policy and economics, and he has delivered several hundred technical presentations.  He has served as senior editor or contributing author for a variety of technical reference books and manuals and as a member of the editorial board for several international journals.  Currently Dr. Walton has a research or consulting relationship with several international universities, several public and private firms, and serves as a member on several Boards of Directors of both public and privately held companies.