Gene Griffin, Director of the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute, has over 30 years of experience in transportation and logistics as a researcher and as a research administrator. He has conducted scholarly work in the areas of economics, management, business logistics, and public policy as they relate to rail, motor carrier, low volume roads, economic development, rural transit, and agricultural transportation. He has published 18 technical reports, 31 staff papers, and 27 verified statements, testified in several transportation regulatory proceedings, and has conducted transportation consulting on a national and international basis. During his tenure as director the annual budget of the UGPTI has increased from $250,000 to more than $10 million annually and the research faculty has grown from three to 40 academic staff and 10 support staff. Further, the Institute employs approximately 50 students at the undergraduate, masters, and doctoral level. He has been director of the Institute since 1980. Prior to that, he was a research economist in the North Dakota Water Resources Research Institute and the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute.