Section History

The following history was compiled by the Section Historian, John Thompson, and supplemented by information from the Awards Committee, ITE International and the Section's first webmaster, Kim Hazarvartian.

The establishment of the New England Section was announced during the business session of the 18th Annual Meeting of the Institute held in Detroit, Michigan in October 1947. The Section first met on October 22, 1947 in New Haven, Connecticut. The first Section President was Earle Osterhoudt, who served from 1947 to 1949. Much of the initiative to organize the New England Section came from traffic engineers in the New Haven and Hartford areas of Connecticut who had attended some of the New York Section meetings. The Institute's first student chapter was organized by the Bureau of Highway Traffic at Yale University, also in October 1947, and its members were eager to attend professional meetings of local and state traffic engineers.

For much of the first 30 years, travel distances to various Section events were an on-going topic of debate. In the late 1970s, the Section began discussing the idea of forming separate state chapters within the Section. By the early 1990s, five state chapters had been established: Maine (?), New Hampshire (1992), Vermont (?), Massachusetts (1982) and Connecticut (?). Nearly half of the Section's members are members of the Massachusetts Chapter.

Three past presidents of the New England Section have served as presidents of ITE International. They include Edmund Ricker, Fred Hurd and William McGrath. In 1996, Boston was the host city for the Annual ITE International meeting. That year, William McGrath received the "Theodore M. Matson Memorial Award" for outstanding contributions in the field of traffic engineering. In 1994, ITE International established the "Edmund R. Ricker Traffic Safety Awards" in honor of Mr. Ricker.

The Section currently presents four different awards at its annual dinner meeting held in December. In 1972, the Section established the "Transportation Engineer of the Year" award. The first recipient was Thomas G. Harlow. In 1974, Harvey B. Boutwell received the Section's first "Distinguished Service Award." In 1989, the Section established the "Transportation Leadership Award" to honor non-members. John Clements of New Hampshire was the first recipient. In recent years, the Section has also recognized a member with less than five years of experience with the Young Professionals Group Award.

In December 1999, the Section established the Thomas E. Desjardins Memorial Scholarship. Tom was an active member of the Section and was particularly involved in the Young Professionals Group. Golf was one of Tom's avocations. The New England Section felt that hosting an annual golf tournament was the most fitting way to pay tribute to him while helping to build the scholarship fund. The tournament is held annually in May and attracts nearly 100 golfers. Funds are also raised through donations. The first scholarship was awarded in September of 2000.

To Be Continued...

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