INDUCTEES FROM 2004 THROUGH 2007
IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER BY LAST NAME
(year of induction in parentheses)
 
2008 Inductees

   
Willard F. Babcock (2007)
Dr. Bill Babcock, a Boston native with civil engineering degrees from MIT, began teaching engineering at age 22 at North Carolina State College (now North Carolina State University) in 1940. He was awarded a full professorship in 1952. In 1948 he also began serving as a private consultant on traffic and thoroughfare plans for the state's towns and cities. From 1957 through 1969, he was Director of Highways for the North Carolina State Highway Commission where he implemented a strong planning component. Under his leadership the agency developed budgetary controls, acquired mainframe computers, added aerial photography to assist mapping, and strengthened in-service training programs. He returned to his NCSU professorship until 1984. It was during that time, in 1978, that he created and had chartered the UNC Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRE). He served as its director until he retired in 1984.
 

Robert E. Barnhill, Sr. (2005)
Mr. Barnhill was born in 1920 in Conetoe, NC, and first worked as a logger for a veneer mill in Tarboro in 1943. He founded Barnhill & Long in 1949 to conduct business in clearing, ditching and building irrigation ponds for farmers. In 1952, Barnhill Contracting Company was born, and early transportation projects included a farm-to-market road between Ahoskie and Murfreesboro for the State Highway Commission and widening 15 miles of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad between Rocky Mount and Enfield. During the late 1950's, he expanded his business into the construction of interstate highways in North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware and Maryland. In the 1970's, he was awarded the contract for the Raleigh Beltline (now I-440), at that time the largest highway construction contract ever awarded by the state. To facilitate his management of geographically dispersed projects, Mr. Barnhill learned to fly and continued to fly himself for business and pleasure until 1977 when he hired a full-time company pilot. Mr. Barnhill was a great motivator of people and his memory continues to inspire the employees of the company he founded. He died in 2000.
  

C. Grier Beam (2007)
Mr. Beam began a long and successful venture into the trucking industry in Cherryville, Gaston County, in 1932. Fresh out of college and unemployed, his vision began with a 1931 Chevrolet truck which he used to haul coal for Lincoln County schools and fresh fruit from Florida to North Carolina. With the purchase of additional trucks, he began hauling yarn from Cross Cotton Mills of Marion to northern states. Eventually, Beam Trucking Company grew into Carolina Freight Carriers Corporation, which became one of the nation's ten largest motor carriers of general commodities. Carolina Freight succeeded because he was committed to his “Carolina Family” philosophy and dedicated to the welfare and success of his employees. Although Carolina Freight has not existed since 1995 (it was bought by ABF Freight System), its rich history is preserved in the C. Grier Beam Truck Museum in Cherryville.
 

Harriett Morehead Berry (2004)
Raised in Hillsborough, North Carolina, Ms. Berry became secretary and chief spokesperson for the North Carolina Good Roads Association in 1921, and advocated a 5,500-mile county-seat-to-county-seat State highway system.  She also served as secretary for the Southern Appalachian Good Roads Association and the American Association of State Highway Officials.
 

Emily Brown Blount (2006)
Ms. Blount was the first woman to receive a B.S. in civil engineering and the first woman to receive a Professional Degree in civil engineering in 1954 from North Carolina State University, and the first woman to be registered as a Professional Engineer in North Carolina. She accepted the induction plaque in person.
 

John Blue (2007)
Mr. Blue, a Civil War veteran, was the founder of the Aberdeen & Rockfish Railroad Company (A&R) in 1902; however, construction of the railroad began in 1892. It was initially authorized to run eastward from Aberdeen (originally named Blue's Crossing after John's uncle Malcolm) into the pine forests of the Sandhills region, terminating at Rockfish Creek in Cumberland County. By 1912, the A&R had established passenger and freight service to Fayetteville and made connections with the Atlantic Coast Line and Southern Railway in Fuquay-Varina. John Blue died in 1922, but the A&R maintained its family ownership then and continues it today. In 1922, the family immediately created a rail connection to Fort Bragg, which was extremely important for the A&R, and for the war effort in WWII by carrying freight and more than one million soldiers. In 1992, the A&R celebrated its 100th Anniversary. In 2007 the "A & R", at 115 years old, is truly the “Road of Personal Service.”
 

Earl E. Congdon, Jr. (2005)
Mr. Congdon is Chairman and CEO of Old Dominion Freight Line in Thomasville, NC.  He started his trucking career in Richmond, Virginia in 1950 at the age of 19 upon the death of his father Earl Sr. who had started the business with one truck in 1934 to make the run between Richmond and Norfolk. With his mother Lillian and brother John, Earl Jr. took over the business and, through the purchase of High Point-based Bottoms-Fiske Truck Line in 1957, extended operations into North Carolina and southern Virginia.  In 1962, Old Dominion moved its headquarters from Richmond to High Point until further growth prompted another move, this time to Thomasville five years ago. Today, Old Dominion serves 45 states (35 with full coverage) plus Canada with 152 service centers, has over 10,000 employees, and operates 4,000 tractors and 14,000 trailers and vans. Old Dominion's growth and exemplary reputation are due to Earl's, his family's and his employees' commitment to a quality management process that is fully integrated into the way the company operates. Mr. Congdon accepted the induction plaque in person.
 

Richard J. Corbitt (2007)
Mr. Corbitt came to Henderson in 1895 and built his first buggy in 1899. Of the four buggy manufacturers there at that time, his was the only one to survive. In 1907, he built his first automobile, the “horseless buggy.” By 1913, however, the Corbitt Company decided to switch from automobiles to buses and trucks which were sold nationally and internationally, in 22 countries. During the two World Wars he supplied trucks to the Army and Navy. Between the two wars and after WW II he also made and sold farm tractors. The Corbitt Company had its own engineering department and produced distinctive and innovative designs that contained features that were adopted by other manufacturers. It was a Corbitt that pulled Howard Hughes’s “Spruce Goose” from its hangar in Long Beach, CA., then the largest bulk load ever moved over a highway. Volume production at the Corbitt factory ceased in 1952, when Richard Corbitt retired at age 76.
 

Paul D. Cribbins (2005)
Dr. Cribbins is Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering at NC State University. He grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and, after graduating from high school in 1944, spent the next 15 years pursuing an education and serving in the military. His Bachelors degree requirements were met at the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy and the University of Alabama, and he earned his Master's and Doctorate degrees in Civil Engineering at Purdue University. In 1959, he moved to Raleigh and began a 32-year career at North Carolina State University, where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses in transportation planning and economics, traffic engineering, highway geometric design, marine transport, and airport planning and design. He has received numerous awards in recognition of his teaching effectiveness including those from NCSU, the Merchant Marine Academy, the American Society for Engineering Education, and the NCSU Alumni Association. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in North Carolina and a strong advocate of student involvement in professional societies, especially the NC Section Institute of Transportation Engineers (President, 1967-68) and the NC Section American Society of Civil Engineers (President, 1970-71). He served multiple terms as faculty advisor to student chapters of professional organizations and the "Cribbins Cup" is awarded annually to the Outstanding Student Chapter of NCSITE. Dr. Cribbins accepted the induction plaque in person.
 

Thomas H. Davis (2005)
Mr. Davis was born in Winston-Salem and developed an early fondness for airplanes and aviation, being inspired by Charles Lindbergh's non-stop flight from New York to Paris in the Spirit of St. Louis. He soloed in a Taylor Cub at age 16, and qualified for commercial pilot and flight instructor ratings while studying at the University of Arizona for a career in medicine.  Back in Winston-Salem during the summer of 1939, he accepted a job selling airplanes for Camel City Flying Services, eventually becoming its major stockholder and changing its name to Piedmont Aviation, the holding company for Piedmont Airlines. In 1947, Piedmont received a license to carry passengers, mail and freight on routes linking the Carolinas and Virginia with the Ohio Valley, and in 1948 initiated three routes. In 1962, Piedmont was granted route extensions to Atlanta, and in 1966 started service New York's LaGuardia Airport.  He retired in 1983, but remained a member of Piedmont's board of directors, and served as chairman of the executive committee. By 1987 Piedmont has 177 aircraft and had expanded service to 235 destinations including London.  Overcoming great odds, Tom Davis helped Piedmont Airlines grow into a company that brought economic strength, vitality and prestige to North Carolina. He died in 1999.
 

Willis Napoleon Hackney (2004)
Born in 1823 and raised in Nash County, North Carolina, Mr. Hackney founded the forerunner of Hackney Brothers Body Company in Wilson in 1852 to build coaches and wagons. With the popularity of the automobile in the early 20th century, the product line was expanded to include ambulances, school buses and refrigerated trucks. He died in 1887. Today, Hackney produces and refurbishes a wide range of vehicles including aluminum beverage truck bodies, trailers and emergency vehicles at its manufacturing facility in Washington, North Carolina.
 

Hampton D. Haith (2006)
Mr. Haith started his career in transit as a stock clerk and rose to become the last general manager of Safe Bus Company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Owned and operated by African-Americans, Safe Bus Company started in 1921 and became the largest African-American transportation system in the United States. Mr. Haith eased the system's transition to integration and city ownership in the early 1970's.
 

Herman J. Hoose (2005)
Born in 1910, Mr. Hoose entered the traffic engineering profession in 1935.  Early in his career he served as Traffic Engineer and Highway Planner for the U S Army Corps of Engineers, Manhattan Project from 1942 to 1945.  After World War II, he served for several years as a municipal traffic engineer in Indiana.  In 1948, Herman was hired by the City of Charlotte as its first traffic engineer (and the first in North Carolina) and served in that role and as Director of Traffic Engineering until his retirement in 1978.  During his tenure, Charlotte’s traffic engineering department was one of the preeminent in southeast United States.  Herman was an innovator, an advocate for safety, a mentor and a professional with integrity.  Herman had the courage to champion needed transportation improvements, and the wisdom and stamina to overcome obstacles encountered along the way to implementation.  He served as the major catalyst for developing forums for traffic engineering in the southeastern United States.  He was a founding member of the Southern Safety Association, the predecessor to the Southern Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE).  He was dedicated to the transportation profession and was elected President of the Southern Section and to Director on the International  Board.  ITE’s Southern District established the Herman J. Hoose Distinguished Service Award in 1972 and in 1986, he was presented with ITE's Theodore M. Matson Memorial Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of traffic engineering. He died in 1997.
 

Cleve C. Mangum (2004)
Born in 1885 and raised in Durham, Mr. Mangum began his construction career in 1927 digging basements, but transitioned into highway construction in 1931 with a grading job in Sampson County. Despite being severely physically handicapped, he always drove the lead mule wagon himself, and owned 122 mules before mechanized equipment replaced mules around 1938. During his lifetime, Mangum graded and did preparatory work for paving many miles of new location North Carolina roads, including Western Boulevard in Raleigh. He died in 1953. The Mangum Group that evolved from the business he founded continues to be active in road building in North Carolina.
 

Native Americans (2004)
Before the arrival of the European colonists, Native Americans created trails, forded rivers, crossed mountains and navigated waterways in pursuit of food and trade. Many of today’s major highways and rail lines follow the routes of the primitive pathways blazed by North Carolina’s Native American peoples.
 

Malcom P. McLean, Sr. (2006)
Mr. McLean was born into a North Carolina farming family in 1914. Struggling to assist his family during the Great Depression, he started a small trucking company to transport farmers' goods and supplies. His resourcefulness enabled him to expand to thirty trucks by 1940, and he was eventually able to sell McLean Trucking, a $12 million company with over 1700 trucks, by the mid-1950s. His years in the transportation business showed McLean the need for an easier method of shipping goods. He had watched dock workers unloading goods from trucks and transferring them to ships, and marveled at the inefficiency of the process. "Wouldn't it be great," he asked himself, "if my trailer could simply be lifted up and placed on the ship?" In 1955, he gambled big on a container venture, buying two oil tankers and securing a bank loan to buy $42 million worth of docking, shipbuilding, and repair facilities. He refitted the ships and designed trailers to stack below or on the decks. In April 1956, his first container ship, the Ideal X, departed Port Newark, New Jersey, headed for Houston. McLean named his new company Sea-Land, and rushed to expand it, exposing the business to financial instability. The venture required a lot of capital. His aggressive investment was rewarded by the Port of New York Authority's decision to develop a new container port in Elizabeth, New Jersey, anointing cargo shipping as the method of the future. McLean's cargo shipped faster and cheaper, because loading and unloading were shortened at each end of the voyage. The sealed cargo reduced the pilfering that went on at various stages of the cargo's journey and also reduced the labor required. The Vietnam War aided his efforts to expand into Asia, and as more ports adapted to the containers, shipping was revolutionized. Nearly every imported consumer good imaginable owes its lower price to the container revolution. McLean sold Sea-Land for $160 million in 1969. He produced more inventions in his lifetime, including a means of lifting patients from a stretcher to a hospital bed. In 1978, restless, McLean returned to shipping, introducing enormous "econoships" to carry cargo at the equator while smaller ships came and went from them, picking up and delivering containers. McLean died in 2001, relatively unknown considering the broad impact of his innovation.
 

Carl Mickey, Sr. (2006)
When Mr. Mickey, the son of the founder Will Mickey, a blacksmith, began working for Mickey Truck Bodies, it had only four employees. Today, the company exceeds that in the number of locations it operates. In addition to its manufacturing plants in High Point, the company has service centers in Bloomington, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Howell, New Jersey; Ocala, Florida; and Thomasville, North Carolina. But beyond that, Mickey Truck Bodies is producing products globally through a series of manufacturing partnerships. Mickey has international partners in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Hungary, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Mickey Truck Bodies celebrated its 100th Anniversary in 2004. Mr. Mickey accepted the induction plaque in person.  He died in 2007.
 

John Motley Morehead (2005)
Mr. Morehead was born in Pittsylvania County, Virginia in 1796 and studied at the University of North Carolina where he graduated in 1817.  He then studied law and was admitted to the Bar in 1819. He served in the North Carolina legislature and served as governor 1841-1845.  While he was governor, he was tireless in his efforts to improve education, communication and transportation and described the possibility of a North Carolina Railroad as a "Tree of Life" to North Carolinians to increase trade and transportation, as well as the exchange of culture and ideas. Ultimately he was the founder of the North Carolina Railroad and became its first president 1850. What he lacked in practical railroad experience, he more than made up in financial and political skills. His responsibility as president was to hire a competent engineer, preside over the construction of the railroad, and to obtain additional support from the state legislature, all of which he accomplished. His job done, he retired from the presidency in 1855 less that a year after limited train service began and six months before the railroad's completion. Through train service began running along the whole line between Charlotte and Goldsboro on January 30, 1856, almost 150 years ago. He died in 1886.
 

Archibald DeBow Murphey (2004)
Mr. Murphey was born in 1777, and became a lawyer and state senator from Orange County, North Carolina. In 1819, he outlined the first comprehensive plan for a statewide transportation system of improved roads, rivers and canals. He offered his recommendations while chairman of a study commission appointed by resolution of the 1815 General Assembly. He served in the state senate from 1812-1818 and as a judge of the Superior Court from 1818-1820. He died in 1832.
 

Mary Webb Nicholson (2006)
Ms. Nicholson was born on July 12, 1905 in Greensboro, North Carolina. She attended Greensboro Women's College and Guilford College, studying music. She also studied business in Portsmouth, Ohio. Her passion for flying began when she took her first plane ride in 1927 at the Tri City Airport in North Carolina. However, it wasn't until 1928 that she had the opportunity to learn to fly. As she later told aviation historian Glenn Buffington, "I had no money to begin my flying lessons in '28, and when the Raven Rock Flying Service in Portsmouth, Ohio offered to give me free instructions in return for parachute jumps to advertise the school, I accepted the proposition and made three jumps during the six months I was there. I also did the office work for them."  Later Mary returned to North Carolina where she worked as a bookkeeper and stenographer at a local hospital to earn the money she needed to continue flying. In 1929, she received her private pilot's certificate with 26 hours of flying time, becoming the first woman licensed pilot in North Carolina. Shortly thereafter, Mary also became the first woman in North Carolina to receive both her commercial and transport licenses. She took advantage of every possible opportunity to fly, including barnstorming and flying in air shows throughout the south. Mary set the light plane altitude record for North Carolina in 1931, when she flew a Curtiss-Wright Junior, complete with 45 horsepower motor, to 15,200 feet out of the Miller Municipal Airport in Winston-Salem.  Mary became a charter member of the 99's when the organization was formed in 1929. Amelia Earhart appointed Mary to serve as Governor of the Southeastern Section in 1932, which Mary continued to do for several years. In 1937, Mary moved to New York City to be the personal secretary to Jacqueline Cochran. During this time she was also elected Governor of the New York-New Jersey chapter of the 99's.  Mary was instrumental in helping Jacqueline Cochran set up a group of American women pilots to ferry airplanes for the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) in England during World War II. She herself was thrilled to join the last group of women pilots who went over to participate in the war effort. After initial flight training in Canada, Mary traveled by barge with several other women pilots to England. She was stationed at Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. In May of 1943, shortly after being promoted to Second Officer, Mary was ferrying a Miles Master when, due to mechanical difficulties, the propeller flew off her plane over Worcestershire. In poor weather conditions, she made an emergency landing in a farm field. Unable to avoid hitting a farm building, Mary's plane crashed and burst into flames. A nearby farmer attempted, unsuccessfully, to rescue her. Mary was the only American woman in the ATA to lose her life in the war.
 

Richard J. Reynolds, Jr. (2007)
Richard J. (Dick) Reynolds, Jr. was the oldest son of Richard J. Reynolds, Sr., founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Born in 1906, Dick became interested in aviation and by the age of 21, in 1927, he had formed Reynolds Aviation, one of the nation's early commercial aviation companies with daily commuter flights to New York, Detroit, Philadelphia and Baltimore, plus weekend taxi service to Wrightsville Beach and Myrtle Beach. By 1932, his company had been renamed Camel City Flying Service, which later in 1948 became Piedmont Aviation under the ownership of Thomas H. Davis (a 2005 inductee). As the chairman of the Forsyth County Airport Commission, Dick wanted to position Winston-Salem as a leader in what was then a new area of transportation. With the help of his sisters, he donated funds in the name of their late brother Smith to build the finest air terminal in North Carolina.
 

Z. Smith Reynolds (2007)
Z. Smith Reynolds was the youngest of the four children of Richard J. Reynolds, Sr., founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Born in 1911, barely 8 years after the Wright Brothers' historic first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, Smith's avid interest in flying led him to become one of the state's early aviation pioneers. Only three years after Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic, Smith made his 17,000-mile solo flight from London to Hong Kong in 1931-32 in a 1930 S-56 Savoia Marchetti amphibian aircraft named the “898 Whiskey.” Smith's goal was to circumnavigate the globe, but mechanical problems cut the flight short. Several months later, in 1932, he died an untimely death at age 20. In 1940, Eastern Airlines agreed to add Winston-Salem's newly modernized Miller Airport to its North-South route and the airport was re-named the “Smith Reynolds Airport.”
 

Wallace Carl  Riddick (2004)
Born in 1864, Dr. Riddick joined North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now North Carolina State University) in 1892 as a professor of mathematics and practical mechanics. In 1895, he became head of the Civil Engineering Department. He served as the vice president of the college from 1908 to 1916, and president from 1916-1923. In 1923 he stepped down as president in order to start the School of Engineering and be its first dean, a position he served in until 1937. He was instrumental in organizing the North Carolina Society of Engineers in 1918. He died in 1942.
 

Coleman W. Roberts (2006)
On September 15, 1922 in Greensboro, Coleman W. Roberts founded the Carolina Motor Club; the club moved to Charlotte in 1932. The club's current  activities include foreign and domestic travel information and service; emergency road service; personal injury accident insurance, and bail bond service. The club is among the most active organizations promoting the interests of safety of motorists through educational and legal means, and is largest club in the South affiliated with the American Automobile Association.
 

Billy Rose (2005)
Born in 1931, Mr. Rose is a former State Highway Administrator for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT).  In that position, he directed the planning, design and construction of major interstate highways and urban thoroughfares, as well as the paving of secondary roads during the 1970's and 1980's - a period of significant growth in population, business and traffic in North Carolina.  After earning his B.S. and Master's degrees in Civil Engineering from NC State University and serving two years in the U. S. Army Engineering Research & Development Laboratories, Fort Belvoir, VA, he joined the NCDOT (then called the "State Highway Commission") in 1959 as an urban transportation engineer in the Advance Planning Department.  Within seven years he was named Advance Planning Engineer, and in 1973 was promoted to State Highway Administrator. He retired from the NCDOT in 1986 and returned to Kenly, NC where he was born. Illness prevented Mr. Rose from accepting the induction plaque in person;  Mr. Tom Bradshaw accepted it on his behalf.
 

Willis Slane (2006)
The Hatteras legend began on the barrier islands of the North Carolina shore where the frigid waters of the Labrador Current encounter the tropical Gulf Stream. The outcome is Diamond Shoals – home to some of the most turbulent and untamed waters in the Atlantic and some of the best sportfishing in the world. Here in 1959 at Cape Hatteras, where nor'easters can blow almost as fiercely as hurricanes, Willis Slane envisioned building a boat that could conquer the waters of Diamond Shoals and surmount the Hatteras weather. It would not be an ordinary boat – no traditional wooden fishing boat could do this. This new boat would have to be rugged and robust to take the pounding of Hatteras waters. But most importantly, it would have to be a great sportfishing boat – big enough to handle a group of avid fishermen and comfortable enough for family back at the dock. Breaking with all tradition, Slane chose a new material – fiberglass – to build this noteworthy yacht that launched an industry. Hatteras produced its first sportfishing yacht on March 22, 1960, in the town of High Point, North Carolina. Christened the Knit Wits, she was a 41-foot twin cabin sportfisherman with a 14-foot beam and a pair of 275-hp Lincoln V-8s. The response was enthusiastic and the Hatteras legend was born. In a testament to the ruggedness that has become synonymous with Hatteras Yachts, the Knit Wits is still in service today after a fishing career that includes service in the Gulf of Mexico and Piñas Bay, Panama. Within two years, Hatteras premiered the 41 Double Cabin, the first fiberglass motor yacht and the precursor of its cruising yacht line. Additional sportfishing models quickly followed.
 

Nello L. Teer, Sr. (2006)
In 1906, Nello L. Teer, then an 18 year old brick yard workman, suffered the loss of his hand in an unfortunate on-site accident.  But young Nello Teer was a man of vision and strong work ethic who turned an obstacle into an opportunity.  He started over.  Working with rented mules and equipment, he began clearing and grading land. Nello L. Teer worked hard during the economic boom of the early twentieth century, and over the years built a thriving operation of highway and bridge construction in North Carolina which expanded across the country and the world.
 

Perley A. Thomas (2004)
Born in 1874, Mr. Thomas opened the Perley A. Thomas Car Works in High Point in 1916 to renovate streetcars for the Southern Public Utilities Company in Charlotte. Streetcars subsequently built by Thomas were renowned for their expert craftsmanship and solid construction, and operated in many of North America’s largest cities, including Detroit, New York, Miami, and San Juan, Puerto Rico; some recently operating in New Orleans. In 1936, he ceased production of streetcars and began the manufacture of school bus bodies, followed by chasses and bodies in 1978, and low-floor transit buses in 2000.  He died in 1958.
 

Transportation Laborers (2004)
They often gave up health and life in the course of their labors in order that paths and trails might be widened, rivers crossed, tunnels excavated, canals dug, ports deepened, rail lines laid, airfields built, and roads paved to facilitate the movement of commodities and persons within, into and out of North Carolina.
 

Transportation Operators (2004)
They attended to and steered the first animal-drawn vehicles and human and wind-powered vessels, then operated the steam, electric and fossil fuel powered vehicles, vessels and aircraft for the conveyance of commodities and persons in and between North Carolina’s towns and cities, operated transportation depots, ports and other facilities, and performed regulatory and safety functions.
 

C. Edwin Vick, Jr. (2007)
C. E. (Ed) Vick, Jr., P.E., AICP is a founder and retired chairman of Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., a Raleigh-based engineering consulting firm. As president, 1972 to 1992, and as chairman, 1992 to 2000, he directed the continual expansion of the firm to include aviation, environmental services, intelligent transportation systems, land development, transit, transportation, urban planning/landscape architecture, and water resources. The firm employs over 2,500 people and in 2007 is ranked 13th nationally among transportation firms. Ed continues to be a leader in professional, business, educational, and community organizations. In 1991, he was named the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus by the NCSU engineering faculty. His awards include the Distinguished Service Award from SDITE, the R.V. Moss Lifetime Services Award from NCSITE, the 1998 PENC Distinguished Service Award, and the 2006 NCSU Alumni Association's Meritorious Service Award.
 

Seth T. Wooten, Sr. (2007)
Mr. Wooten was raised on his family's tobacco farm near Saratoga in Wilson County. He attended Oak Ridge Academy and later served in the Army Air Corps. He worked for Watson Tobacco Co. before founding a small farm equipment repair shop in 1952, where he worked long hours in a small building beside his home in Stantonsburg, NC. This small beginning grew into one of the leading contracting corporations in the state - the S. T. Wooten Corporation. By the late 1950s, the business had broadened into grading and paving throughout the Southeast. In the 1970s and 1980s, the business diversified further adding manufacturing facilities, utilities, structures and concrete products. He served as a director of the Carolinas Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America and held a life membership in the national association. Today, the corporation is headed by Seth Tyson, Jr. and has grown to eight operation divisions with locations throughout the state.
 

Orville Wright (2004), Wilbur Wright (2004)
Wilbur Wright was born in 1867 and Orville Wright in 1871. Their first successful manned flight on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks of North Carolina of a motor-powered heavier-than-air airplane moved transportation into the aviation age. The first flight of the "Flyer" was 120 ft. and lasted 12 seconds. Three more successful flights were conducted during the same day, the fourth flight being 852 ft. and 59 seconds. Wilbur died in 1912, and Orville in 1948.