Sperling is a professor of civil engineering, and environmental science and policy at UC Davis and is recognized as a leading international expert on transportation technology assessment, energy and environmental aspects of transportation, and transportation policy. He has served as a board member of the California Air Resources Board since 2007, where his chief responsibilities are implementation oversight of the state’s climate change, alternative fuels, vehicle travel and land use, and zero emission vehicle programs.

The appointment was announced at this week’s 94^th annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, DC, attended by 12,000 transportation professionals from across the United States and abroad. The Transportation Research Board is a major division of the National Research Council, the private, nonprofit institution that serves as the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering and as an independent adviser to the US government.

The executive committee Sperling will chair for the coming year oversees the board’s programs and activities, engaging more than 7,000 engineers, scientists, and transportation researchers and practitioners from academia, private and public sectors, including state departments of transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The board’s mission is to promote innovation and progress in transportation through objective research.

Sperling founded the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis in 1991 and has led it to international prominence, building strong partnerships with industry, government and the environmental community, and connecting research with public policy and outreach.

In 2013, ITS-Davis was selected in a national competition to lead the National Center for Sustainable Transportation, a two-year, $11.2-million research, education and outreach consortium of six universities for the US Department of Transportation.