prior to joining the a&m system barton who is also a professor of practice for the zachry department of civil engineering and director of the texas a&m rellis campus was the deputy executive director of txdot where he provided executive control and oversight of all txdot operations and the states transportation system barton was selected as the 2017 public sector recipient of the john jake landen memorial safety award by the traffic safety industry division (tsid) of the american road & transportation builders association (artba) for his role spanning a 30-year career at txdot established in 1989 in memory of the tsid leader and past artba chairman (1976) jc landen this annual award recognizes individuals who have made significant lifetime contributions to the improvement of roadway infrastructure safety throughout his long and distinguished career with txdot john barton not only advocated for personal safety but also for safer roads and bridges throughout texas said txdot executive director james bass on behalf of everyone at txdot i congratulate john for receiving this prestigious honor and thank the selection committee for bestowing it on such a deserving candidate whose contributions to safety will continue to protect and benefit texas motorists for generations to come in his current role barton provides direction guidance and advice on strategic projects for the a&m system including the development of the new rellis campus and provides classroom instruction to educate students through lectures and seminars focused on leadership public administration and emerging transportation technologies whenever we face a transportation issue within the texas a&m university system i immediately look to john barton said john sharp chancellor of the texas a&m system his knowledge expertise and passion for transportation-related matters make him a valuable asset to the a&m system and the state of texas the john jake landen memorial safety award was presented sept 18 at the artba foundation awards luncheon it is a great honor to be selected to receive this award i am humbled to be among those recognized previously for their contributions to making our transportation system safer barton said millions of people depend upon a safe and reliable transportation system each day i count it as one of my greatest career achievements to have been able to promote and contribute to making these systems safer now and for generations to come other honors for barton include the distinguished graduate award of the department of civil engineering at texas a&m the governor rick perry leadership in transportation award the american association of state highway and transportation officials (aashto) presidents special award of merit and the federal highway administrations public service award barton also served on the board of directors of the intelligent transportation society of america chairman of the american association of state highway and transportation officials subcommittee of traffic engineering and board of directors of the national operations center of excellence barton currently serves on the safety advisory board for uber and the advisory board for southwest research institute