Dan Flowers Distinguished Lecture Series
Established in 2007, the Dan Flowers Distinguished Lecture Series honors the transportation service of Dan Flowers, former Director of the Arkansas Department of Transportation.
Flowers is a registered professional engineer, a member of the University of Arkansas Academy of Civil Engineering, and serves on the Mack-Blackwell Transportation Center’s Professional Advisory Board.
Most Recent Lecture
A Conversation with Eric Wolfe
Eric Wolfe, BBA, MBA
President, Watco Logistics
October 2, 2025
Past Lectures
October 22, 2024
Intermodal Miracles and Maladies
Bethany Stich, Ph.D.
Professor, Planning and Urban Studies, University of New Orleans
November 2, 2023
Railroading in Northwest Arkansas: Challenges and Opportunities
Caren Kraska
Chairman and President, Arkansas & Missouri Railroad
Pictured: Caren Kraska and Heather Nachtmann
April 22, 2022
Securing the Maritime Transportation Systems Industry: The Not So Hidden Problem of Operational Technology Cybersecurity
Michael Thompson
Problem Solver, MITRE
November 14, 2019
Don’t Look Back, the Past Isn’t Where We Are Headed: A Look at How the Marine Freight World Is Changing
Jim Kruse, MBA
Director, Center for Ports and Waterways, Texas A&M Transportation Institute
April 15, 2019
Marine Transport and Goods Movement: Why Should You Know and Why Should You Care
Eric Shen, P.E.
Director, Mid-Pacific Gateway Office, Maritime Administration, U.S. Department of
Transportation
Pictured: Sarah Hernandez and Eric Shen
November 15, 2018
Challenges & Opportunities in Surface Transportation
Tianjia Tang, Ph.D.
Chief, Travel Monitoring and Surveys Division, Federal Highway Administration, U.S.
Department of Transportation
April 20, 2018
Preparing for Automated and Connected Vehicles
Melissa Tooley, Ph.D., P.E.
Director, External Initiatives, Texas A&M Transportation Institute
Pictured: Heather Nachtmann and Melissa Tooley
November 9, 2017
Intelligent Next Generation Transportation: Integrated Mobility Through Connected and Automated Technologies
Regina Hopper
Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy, GRIDSMART Technologies, Inc.
Pictured: Regina Hopper and Bobby Hopper
November 17, 2016
Logistics and Supply Chains in the 21st Century: Uncertainty, Change, and a Look Toward the Future. Some Observations from an “Operator” Turned “Academic”
Craig Philip, Ph.D., P.E.
Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Vanderbilt University
April 14, 2016
Jeddah Tower: The Next World’s Tallest Building and the First Man-Made Structure to Reach a Height of One Kilometer
Robert Sinn, P.E.
Principal and Building Structure Practice Leader, Thornton Tomasetti
November 12, 2015
Regional Economic Impact Study for the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System
Gene Higginbotham and Heather Nachtmann, Ph.D.
Director, Arkansas Waterways Commission; Director, MarTREC
Pictured: Gene Higginbotham
April 24, 2015
Arkansas Highways: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Scott E. Bennett, P.E.
Director, Arkansas Department of Transportation
November 6, 2014
Optimization Formulations and Strategies for Navigation Systems Operations and Maintenance
Kenneth “Ned” Mitchell, Ph.D.
Research Civil Engineer, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, U.S. Army Engineer Research
and Development Center