The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has appointed Mark Lowe, director of the Iowa Department of Transportation, as the chair of the Special Committee on Research and Innovation for a two-year term. AASHTO also reappointed the chairs of eight other committees as well.

Appointed Iowa DOT’s director on May 26, 2017, Lowe previously served as the agency’s general counsel from 2008 to 2009, and as the director of its Motor Vehicle Division from 2009 to 2016. Before joining Iowa DOT, Mark served as an associate and then shareholder with the Hopkins & Huebner law firm and as associate general counsel for Norwest Financial; both located in Des Moines.

In a previous interview with AASHTO’s Transportation TV, Lowe noted that one of his agency’s biggest challenges is finding a way to “maintain that balance between stewardship and modernization” of Iowa’s transportation system.

Meanwhile, AASHTO reappointed the chairs for eight of its other committees:

• Daniel Kahnke, audit director for the Minnesota DOT, as chair of the Committee on Internal and External Audit.
• Scott Bennett, director of the Arkansas DOT and AASHTO’s secretary/treasurer, as chair of the Committee on Planning.
• Carlos Braceras, executive director of the Utah DOT and AASHTO’s 2018-2019 president, as chair of the Committee on Design.
• Moe Jamshidi, deputy director for operations at the Nebraska DOT, as chair of the Committee on Materials and Pavements.
• George Connor, deputy director-operations for the Alabama DOT, as chair of the Committee on Maintenance.
• Kyle Schneweis, director of the Nebraska DOT, as chair of the Committee on Communications, also known as TransComm.
• Greg Slater, administrator of the Maryland State Highway Administration, as chair of the Committee on Data Management and Analytics.
• Pete Rahn, secretary of the Maryland DOT and AASHTO’s 2007-2008 president, as chair of the Committee on Funding and Finance.