Longtime Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute director receives University System Leadership Excellence Award
Denver Tolliver, the director of the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute at NDSU, recently received the University System Leadership Excellence Award from the State Board of Higher Education, a new program initiated by the NDUS in partnership with the SBHE this year. The award recognizes the dedication to advancing organizational success, culture-building and lasting impact by the SBHE. Tolliver received a commemorative plaque during the SBHE meeting on Sept. 24.
“I am deeply honored to receive the NDSU Leadership Excellence Award, particularly as I near the end of my career at NDSU,” said Tolliver, who will retire on Nov. 5. “When I came to NDSU more than four decades ago, I could never have imagined where that journey would lead. Whatever we have accomplished has been the result of talented people working together, sharing ideas and believing in what we could build. I am especially grateful to the colleagues, students, university leaders and partners who have supported me and UGPTI over the years. NDSU gave me opportunities to grow, to lead and to pursue ideas that could make a difference, and I will always be thankful for that.”
The impact Tolliver has had on the UGPTI has been noticeable to those who have worked and collaborated with him over the years and was outlined in his nomination letter provided to the SBHE.
“Perhaps the best measure of Denver's leadership is the institution he leaves behind. After more than four decades at NDSU and more than 14 years as UGPTI Director, UGPTI is larger, more financially resilient, more nationally connected and more important to North Dakota than when he assumed the position,” read an excerpt of his nomination letter. “He has strengthened relationships with state and federal agencies, expanded NDSU's national transportation research presence, created opportunities for faculty, staff and students and built programs designed to endure beyond his own tenure.”
Tolliver joined NDSU in 1984 as a research fellow at the UGPTI, became associate director of the institute in 2003 and was named director in 2012. In his role, he directs the UGPTI at NDSU and the Mountain-Plains Consortium, a multi-university partnership that serves as the university transportation center for federal Region 8. He also directs NDSU's transportation and logistics graduate program.
Throughout his career, Tolliver has been awarded $57 million in grant funding and has authored or co-authored more than 200 transportation research papers, including reports for federal agencies such as the Research and Innovative Technology Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as state transportation agencies in Idaho, Nebraska, North Dakota, Virginia and Washington. His research interests include highway systems modeling, multimodal transportation planning, freight transportation, and energy and environmental analysis.
Before joining NDSU, he worked as a rail planner for the North Dakota Department of Transportation and as a research assistant at Virginia Tech's Center for Environmental Studies.
Faculty, staff and students are invited to celebrate Tolliver and his achievements at a retirement celebration on Thursday, Oct. 29, from 1-3 p.m. in the Memorial Union’s Badlands Room.
About NDUS
The North Dakota University System is a unified system of higher education governed by the State Board of Higher Education. Organized in 1990, the system includes two research universities, four regional universities and five community colleges.
The mission of the State Board of Higher Education and the Commissioner of the North Dakota University System is to unleash the potential of higher education in the state to enhance the quality of life, and the social and economic vitality of all served by its public colleges and universities.