“This is an award we take very seriously,” said Cassidy in a presentation ceremony in the Harmer E. Davis Transportation Library on May 3. “Consequently, we do not give it each and every year. It is only given when a student truly distinguishes himself or herself through research and teaching. I’m happy to say, this is one such year.”

Cassidy noted a satisfying symmetry in the fact that Yanfeng Ouyang, who received his doctorate in civil and environmental engineering, will be taking a faculty position at the University of Illinois, the institution where Newell went to graduate school.

The Gordon F. Newell Memorial Fellowship was established by Newell's widow, Barbara, to honor her late husband, the acclaimed traffic flow theorist. She attended Tuesday’s ceremony.