Northwestern University Transportation Center
70th Anniversary Workshop
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2026
Ford Hive (Room 2.350)
Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center (map)
2133 Sheridan Road | Evanston, IL 60208
AGENDA
12:15 PM Check-in and Networking
12:45 PM Welcome - Bret Johnson, Interim Director, NUTC
1:00 – 2:30 PM Session 1: Talent, Leadership, and Purpose: Preparing Supply Chain and Transportation Teams for the Next 30 Years of AI and Automation
- Moderator: Elsy Ocejo, Fractional COO/CSCO
- Edward Colgate, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Allen and Johnnie Breed Senior Professor in Design; Director, NSF ERC on Human AugmentatioN via Dexterity (HAND), McCormick School of Engineering & Applied Science, Northwestern
- Xiaopeng Li, Harvey D. Spangler Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Director, USDOT Rural Autonomous Vehicle Program for People Movement, University of Wisconsin, Madison
- Kendra Phillips, VP Transportation Management & Brokerage, Ryder System, Inc.
2:30 – 3:00 PM Break
3:00 – 3:30 PM Presentation: Retrospective of the Transportation Center over 7 Decades
- Rachel Cole, Head of Northwestern Transportation Library
3:30 – 5:00 PM Session 2: 70 Years Forward: NUTC's Legacy and the Next Chapter in Transportation & Supply Chain Systems
- Moderator: Joseph Schofer, Emeritus Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern
- Ben Mclean, CEO, Ruan Transportation Management Systems
- Ian Savage, Associate Chair, Professor of Instruction, Department of Economics, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern
- Karen Smilowitz, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education, Northwestern; James N. and Margie M. Krebs Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, McCormick School of Engineering & Applied Science; Professor of Operations, Kellogg School of Management
- Jeff Silver, CEO, Master Logistics Systems; Chair, NUTC Business Advisory Council (BAC)
- Justin Zubrod, Managing Partner, Justin Zubrod & Company; former Chair, NUTC BAC