UF urban and regional planning students Leslie Brown and Jarrell Smith are among 20 talented graduate students selected to participate in the 25th annual Eno Future Leaders Development Conference June 4-8 in Washington D.C.
This conference will prepare the graduate students for a career in transportation by allowing them to meet with top government officials and learn how the nation’s transportation policies are formed and applied.
“Being selected to join the Eno Leadership Development Conference is a great honor and I am excited for the opportunity to meet with and learn from the current and future leaders of the transportation field,” Brown stated.
This is the first time that a University of Florida URP student has been selected for this honor and the first time two students from UF have participated in the same year. “Admission to the Future Leaders Development Conference is extremely competitive,” UF alumnus and director of the Eno Center for Transportation Alex Bond, AICP (MAURP 2005) stated. “In order to be selected, Fellows have to demonstrate far more than scholastic excellence – most students have significant work experience, an outstanding publication record, or have held leadership positions in professional organizations.”
Jarrell Smith was selected as the first winner of The Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) Award. “Eno is pleased that CUTC has selected an outstanding student (Jarrell Smith) from the University of Florida as the inaugural winner of the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) seat in the LDC program,” Bond said.
Smith said he was thrilled to receive the award. “Any opportunity to learn more about national transportation policy initiatives, while also interacting with federal officials and leaders of business and non-profit organizations sounds like an amazing prospect for an upcoming transportation professional.”
Ruth Steiner, URP professor and director of the Center for Health and the Built Environment, nominated the two students for this award. Brown and Smith are currently working as research assistants for Steiner on the same project. The students were selected due to their outstanding leadership ability and potential to assume a senior role in transportation-related organizations in the future.
“To have two students selected at the same time is quite an honor,” Steiner said. “The honor is even more interesting when you consider that both Les and Jarrell have been working on the same project to provide technical assistance to rural communities throughout Florida in preparing applications for the Safe Routes to School funding. They each bring different skills and interests to the Eno Future Leaders Class.”