2018 – David Boyce
Dr. David Boyce is the winner of this years’ Jim Marek Alumni Appreciation Award presented by the UIC College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs Alumni Association. Boyce was honored in early October at a private reception for his work conducting transportation research and teaching at UIC for many years. From 1988 to 1999, he served as Director of the Urban Transportation Center (UTC) and conducted groundbreaking research on transportation modeling, gaining international acclaim and putting transportation research at UIC on the map. During his time at UTC he gathered a community of international scholars from across the globe. Of particular note is his work for the ADVANCE project, which anticipated the GPS cell phone navigation many use today.
During his tenure at UIC, Boyce also oversaw the research of dozens of PhD students, many of whom would also also go on to be renowned academics.
“More than his academic output in the form of funded research, the hundreds of peer-reviewed articles he has written, and the impact of his work on transportation research, he was behind the moulding and shaping of students and their doctoral dissertations and theses,” said Dr. P.S. Siriaj, current Director of UTC. “It is through his students that his research continues to live and thrive."
Boyce is a longtime advocate of active transportation, often navigating the city by cycling, walking or running. Since his retirement from UIC in 2015, Boyce has been living in Evanston and completed a book about the history of transportation demand models titled, “Forecasting Urban Travel, Past Present & Future.”
The Jim Marek Alumni Appreciation Award is presented annually by CUPPA’s Alumni Association Board of Directors and recognizes honorees for their contributions to students and alumni at the college as well as to the fields of urban planning and public administration.