Congratulations to the Class of 2025!
At the Departmental Commencement Celebration on May 28th, 2025, DUSP celebrated the achievements and accomplishments of the graduating class of 2025.
The commencement keynote speaker was Phillip Eng, General Manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). A Civil Engineer with nearly 40 years of transportation experience, including President of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) Long Island Rail Road and Interim President of New York City Transit, Mr. Eng brings his abilities to spearhead challenging initiatives, modernize aging systems and prioritize safety to bear for the MBTA.
Mr. Eng joined the MTA in 2017 as the Chief Operating Officer, where he drove initiatives and focused on updating transportation systems through the use of innovative technologies, including developing new fare payment applications and piloting new signaling systems. As Acting President for New York City Transit, Mr. Eng led the early efforts of the Subway Action Plan – a comprehensive stabilization and modernization effort to address the challenges facing the New York City subway. During his tenure at the Long Island Rail Road, he initiated the Forward program – a set of strategic initiatives aimed at improving service reliability and enhancing rider experience.
Mr. Eng began his career in public service in 1983 as a Junior Engineer at the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) where he gained expertise in Structures, Bridge Inspection, Maintenance, and Design and Construction. During his tenure at NYSDOT, Mr. Eng held positions of increasing leadership culminating as Executive Deputy Commissioner, throughout which he played a vital role improving project delivery for significant projects such as the I-81 Environmental Impact Study, the Rochester Train Station, and the construction of the new Kosciuszko and Mario M. Cuomo bridges.
After the commencement speeches, the following year-end awards were announced:
Departmental Awards
Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis: Cameron Dougal, Modeling Urban Bicycle Ridership Using Bikeshare Data: A Case Study of Hamilton, Ontario
Outstanding MCP Thesis: Zak Davidson, Interest Group Politics in U.S. ‘Social Housing’ Experiments
Flora Crockett Stephenson Writing Prize: Milan Chuttani, Designing for Repair: Confronting the Spatial and Temporal Constraints on Heritage: Case Studies from Cape Coast, Elmina, and Accra, Ghana
Outstanding PhD Dissertation: Yichun Fan, Essays on Urban Resilience to Environmental and Health Risks
APA Outstanding Student: Mistaya Smith
Simha Prize: Mena Mohamed
Outstanding PhD Teaching Assistant: Mary Taylor
Rolf R. Engler Award for Outstanding Service: Selmah Goldberg
DUSP Student Council Awards
Excellence in Teaching: Cong Cong
Excellence in Teaching by a Teaching Assistant: Mikel Berra Sandin
Excellence in Advising: Karilyn Crockett
Faculty or Staff Contribution to Student Life: Ezra Haber Glenn
Hebbert Award for Student Contribution to DUSP: Yvette Kleinbock
The 2024-2025 Thesis and Dissertation Booklet, which provides an overview of the research efforts of the class of 2025 is available online, here.
Congratulations to the entire 2025 graduating class!