Tom Gillespie

Dr. Gillespie's professional career has been primarily concerned with advanced engineering and research in the automotive and highway areas. From the beginning, his career spanned the breadth of these areas, ranging from applied research at the Pennsylvania State University in automatic controls and pavement friction test methods, to responsibilities as a Project Officer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers directing engineering and service tests on new military construction equipment. At Ford, he served as a group leader in development testing of new heavy truck products, as well as, development of analytical methods and computer programs for predicting truck braking, handling, and ride performance. His expertise in the area of road roughness and vehicle dynamic interactions has led to consultation with the World Bank directing international experiments from which a standard has been developed for measurement of road roughness worldwide.

In 1987-88 Dr. Gillespie served on the White House staff as a Senior Policy Analyst for Dr. William R. Graham, Science Adviser to President Reagan. He subsequently served as a consultant to Dr. Allan Bromley, Science Adviser to President Bush, chairing the Interagency Task Force to develop a National Action Plan on Advanced Superconductivity Research and Development.

On return to the University, Dr. Gillespie served as Director of the Great Lakes Center for Truck and Transportation Research, one of the University Transportation Centers established by the U.S. Department of Transportation. In 2000 he resumed a primary role as researcher and teacher.