Title: Emeritus Professor
Company: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Michael I. Darter, PhD, PE, Emeritus Professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for dedication, achievements, and leadership in engineering education
With decades of experience to his credit, Dr. Darter has held the distinction of emeritus professor from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 2003. During this time, he was additionally active as a principal engineer with Applied Research Associates from 1999 to 2021 and the executive director of the Pavement Research Institute from 2006 to 2010. He previously served at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a professor of civil and environmental engineering between 1973 and 2003. He began his career outside of the classroom as a civil engineer with the Utah Department of Transportation from 1963 to 1970. Dr. Darter has found success with his written works as well, authoring “Fateful Flight of the Lonesome Polecat II: Epic Story of a B-17F and its Brave Crew on their First Combat Mission over the Third Reich and the Search for the Missing-in-Action” in 2004, “Gone with the Wind,’ He Said: The Cold Case Search for My Missing-in-Action Airman Brother” in 2014, and “Vanished in Valor: Cold Case Search for My MIA Brother” in 2024.
Inspired by the support and encouragement of his parents, Dr. Darter initially pursued an education at the University of Utah, from which he earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1966. He continued his academic efforts at the aforementioned university with a Master of Science in Civil Engineering in 1968. He concluded his studies at the University of Texas at Austin in 1973, graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy in civil engineering in 1973. Following these accomplishments, Dr. Darter enlisted as a research engineer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1974 and 1982, where he led the development of the innovative pavement condition index for the U.S. Air Force.
In light of his impressive undertakings, Dr. Darter has accrued several accolades throughout his career, including the D. Grant Mickle Award from the National Transporation Research Board in 1989, the Grand Prize for Engineer of Record from Applied Research Associates and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in 2013, the Hartmann-Hirschman-Egan Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Concrete Pavement Association in 2017, and the Carlos Jofre Award from EUPAVE, the European Concrete Paving Association in 2023, to name a few. Among the many highlights of his career, he fondly recalls his leadership in the multiple groundbreaking projects he spearheaded throughout the highway and airport sectors, including a multi-million-dollar, decade-long highway pavement project under contract with the National Transportation Research Board. Looking toward the future, Dr. Darter hopes to shift his attention to full-time screenwriting, having made great progress on a screenplay for a producer.
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