
Ken G. Close Award
An award in memory of Mr. Ken Close, a long time member and supporter of HEEP, may be given to honor one or more members at the annual meeting each year. Suggestions for the award may be made to the President for consideration. The President will make the final determination of any nominations and canvass the HEEP Officers for approval. The award is not necessarily presented annually. Although no specific criteria have been established for determining eligibility, recipients should reflect the goals of HEEP.
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Kenneth (Ken) G. Close was a special projects engineer for the Federal Highway Administration and served as the Secretary of the AASHTO Subcommittee on Data Processing, now known as the AASHTO Subcommittee on Information Systems. Ken was also the FHWA-designated delegate to the HEEP organization. In the 1970’s the HEEP organization did not enjoy the collaborative working relationship with AASHTO that we enjoy today. Ken worked with Norm Baker of the Iowa DOT and Myron (Mike) Bacon of the Wisconsin DOT to improve and expand the working relationship between the AASHTO IS Subcommittee and the HEEP organization. This was a daunting task given the fact that the two venues had few common attendees; however, the team prevailed, laying the groundwork for the supportive relationship between the two organizations. Tragically, in 1984 Ken and his wife were involved in a fatal automobile accident while returning from the AASHTO subcommittee meeting.
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In 1985, HEEP President Jerry Coleman of the Maryland DOT made the recommendation that HEEP establish a mechanism to recognize HEEPers who have provided long term support for the organization. Jerry further suggested that the organization turn the tragic loss of Ken Close into an opportunity to honor Ken's memory and significant contributions to HEEP via the establishment of the Kenneth G. Close Award. He, with the approval of the Board of Directors, established the award in 1985.
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This award is given at the discretion of the current IHEEP president.
Past Recipients
1985
Ron DeCloak & Hubert Henry
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1986
Bob Hansen
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1987
Walter Verrill
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1988
Frank Tracy & Mike Bacon
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1992
Glenn Sikes
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1993
Richard Hand
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1994
Gerry Gingras
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1995
Jack Stanton
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1996
Al Yocom
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1997
Al Cole
1998
Chick Yates​
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1999
John Penzien
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2001
Raymond E. Halperin
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2003
Petr Pospisil
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2004
Ellwood "Woody" C. Neiman
Don C. Peterson
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2005
Jon Ogden
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2006
Rande Robinson
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2007
Diane Gunsch​
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2008
Paul Fort​
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2009
Douglas Fees
2010
Michael G. Arthur​
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2011
Judy Skeen​
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2012
Dan Belcher​
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2013
Dan Buhler​
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2014
J.D. D'Arville
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2015
J.D. D'Arville​
Dan Belcher
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2016
Mark Suarez​
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2017
Denise Reis​
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2018
Rachelle VanDeventer​
Michael Dyrdahl
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2019
Rennie Lovisa